QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

13 km S of Sierraville, California

· -0.9 km deep · released about 1,600 lb 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 71 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 3.1 (ml)
Depth
-0.9 km below the surface
Felt
21 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Sierra County, 20 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1970 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 21 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,600 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,600 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× 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 39.4700, -120.3378. 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 71 km (44 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

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

  1. 2.1 12km NNE of Tahoe Vista, CA
  2. 1.8 18km S of Johnsville, CA
  3. 1.9 12km S of Johnsville, CA
  4. 2.3 10km NNW of Loyalton, CA
  5. 2.0 21km NW of Truckee, CA
  6. 1.6 6km NNE of Plumas Eureka, CA
  7. 1.6 3km NNW of Plumas Eureka, CA
  8. 1.7 4km NNW of Plumas Eureka, CA
  9. 2.5 4km NNW of Plumas Eureka, CA
  10. 1.7 18km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
  11. 1.8 8 km NNE of Incline Village, Nevada
  12. 1.5 9km NNW of Loyalton, CA
  13. 1.5 6 km NNE of Mogul, Nevada
  14. 1.7 18km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
  15. 1.7 17km SW of Whitehawk, CA

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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.