QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

17km SW of Whitehawk, CA

· 11 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 12 kmNevada County 34 kmPlumas County 46 kmPlacer County 60 kmYuba County 69 kmButte County 81 kmEl Dorado County 91 kmCarson City 93 kmStorey County 99 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 1.7 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sierra County, 12 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3182 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 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 39.5953, -120.6617. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sierra County, CA 12 km (8 mi) W of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 34 km (21 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Plumas County, CA 46 km (29 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Placer County, CA 60 km (37 mi) N of here earthquakes near Placer County
Yuba County, CA 69 km (43 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Yuba County
Butte County, CA 81 km (50 mi) E of here earthquakes near Butte County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 7km NE of East Quincy, CA
  2. 1.5 2 km SE of Johnsville, California
  3. 1.6 2 km S of Plumas Eureka, California
  4. 1.7 11 km SSW of Kingvale, California
  5. 1.9 8km W of La Porte, CA
  6. 1.8 16km SW of La Porte, CA
  7. 1.6 4 km WSW of Sattley, California
  8. 1.5 4 km WSW of Sattley, California
  9. 1.6 5 km WSW of Sattley, California
  10. 2.2 26km W of Sunnyside-Tahoe City, CA
  11. 1.6 5 km NW of Sierra City, California
  12. 2.3 26km WNW of Sunnyside-Tahoe City, CA
  13. 1.5 3 km WNW of Plumas Eureka, California
  14. 2.2 8km WSW of Cromberg, CA
  15. 2.1 2km SW of Spring Garden, 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.