QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

4 km SSE of Sierra City, California

· 4.9 km deep · released about 19 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 10 kmNevada County 28 kmPlacer County 52 kmPlumas County 55 kmYuba County 68 kmEl Dorado County 82 kmButte County 86 kmCarson City 86 kmStorey County 95 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 1.9 (md)
Depth
4.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sierra County, 10 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3302 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 19 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 810,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 580,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 51× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 19 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 39.5233, -120.6217. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sierra County, CA 10 km (6 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 28 km (18 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Placer County, CA 52 km (32 mi) N of here earthquakes near Placer County
Plumas County, CA 55 km (34 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Yuba County, CA 68 km (42 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Yuba County
El Dorado County, CA 82 km (51 mi) N of here earthquakes near El Dorado County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 1km NW of Lake Davis, CA
  2. 1.7 2km N of Plumas Eureka, CA
  3. 2.0 20km NW of Truckee, CA
  4. 2.7 17km NNW of Truckee, CA
  5. 2.9 18km SW of Whitehawk, CA
  6. 2.6 4km E of Truckee, CA
  7. 2.2 12km WNW of Lake Davis, CA
  8. 1.9 3km W of Delleker, CA
  9. 1.8 5km SSW of Cromberg, CA
  10. 1.8 10km NNE of Lake Davis, CA
  11. 1.6 4km WSW of Johnsville, CA
  12. 2.0 3km WSW of Cromberg, CA
  13. 1.5 18km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
  14. 1.6 2km SW of Cromberg, CA
  15. 2.1 5km NNE of Lake Davis, 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.