QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

13 km SE of Sierraville, California

· 7.6 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 24 kmNevada County 49 kmCarson City 59 kmPlacer County 62 kmStorey County 64 kmPlumas County 73 kmEl Dorado County 83 kmDouglas County 87 kmYuba County 96 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 1.5 (md)
Depth
7.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sierra County, 24 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3009 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 lb of TNT

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 39.4993, -120.2668. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sierra County, CA 24 km (15 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 49 km (30 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Carson City, NV 59 km (37 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Carson City
Placer County, CA 62 km (39 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Placer County
Storey County, NV 64 km (40 mi) W of here earthquakes near Storey County
Plumas County, CA 73 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

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

  1. 2.3 10km NNW of Loyalton, CA
  2. 2.0 21km NW of Truckee, CA
  3. 1.5 11 km NW of Virginia City, Nevada
  4. 1.5 11 km NW of Virginia City, Nevada
  5. 1.6 6km NNE of Plumas Eureka, CA
  6. 1.6 3km NNW of Plumas Eureka, CA
  7. 1.7 4km NNW of Plumas Eureka, CA
  8. 2.5 4km NNW of Plumas Eureka, CA
  9. 1.7 18km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
  10. 1.8 12 km SE of Virginia City, NV
  11. 2.8 12 km NW of Virginia City, Nevada
  12. 1.6 12 km NW of Virginia City, Nevada
  13. 1.8 8 km NNE of Incline Village, Nevada
  14. 1.5 12 km NW of Virginia City, Nevada
  15. 1.5 12 km NW of Virginia City, Nevada

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.