QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.7mw

13 km S of Sierraville, California

· -1.6 km deep · released about 5.9 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 20 kmNevada County 42 kmPlacer County 56 kmCarson City 62 kmStorey County 70 kmPlumas County 72 kmEl Dorado County 78 kmDouglas County 89 kmYuba County 89 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 3.7 (mw)
Depth
-1.6 km below the surface
Felt
29 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Sierra County, 20 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3010 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 29 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 29,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.7 about 5.9 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 12× more

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

Where

Epicentre 39.4675, -120.3388. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sierra County, CA 20 km (12 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 42 km (26 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Placer County, CA 56 km (35 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Placer County
Carson City, NV 62 km (38 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 70 km (43 mi) W of here earthquakes near Storey County
Plumas County, CA 72 km (45 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Plumas County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.7 18km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
  2. 1.7 17km SW of Whitehawk, CA
  3. 1.6 18km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
  4. 1.6 5km N of Plumas Eureka, CA
  5. 1.7 5km SE of Cromberg, CA
  6. 2.6 3km NNW of Plumas Eureka, CA
  7. 1.9 3 km NNE of Reno, Nevada
  8. 1.9 3 km NNE of Reno, Nevada
  9. 1.6 5 km SSE of Floriston, California
  10. 1.9 7km N of Loyalton, CA
  11. 2.7 1 km NNE of Beckwourth, California
  12. 1.8 3 km NNE of Reno, Nevada
  13. 2.3 8 km SSE of Sierraville, California
  14. 1.8 6 km S of Floriston, California
  15. 1.5 6 km S of Floriston, California

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

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