Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Reno, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Reno in the 24 hours to 4:34 pm PST (00:34 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 7 km (4 mi) SW, at 11:07 pm PDT on 10 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Reno
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) west-northwest of Reno, NV, at 8:21 pm PST on 7 January 2018 (04:21 UTC), 8.3 km deep.
USGS: 9km NNW of Loyalton, CA
44 km (28 mi) WNW of Reno, NV
- When
- 8:21 pm PST on 7 January 2018 ()
- Where
- 48 km (30 mi) west-northwest of Reno, NV · earthquakes near Reno
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 8.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Sierra County, 27 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mohawk Valley fault, 17 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3230 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Reno, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Reno, NV. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Reno, 48 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Portola, Cold Springs.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.9 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.5 on 2016-08-04 — about 27,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 29 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 40 km S of this epicentre
- 5.6 6 km NNE of Doyle, California · 42 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 9 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 37 km SSW of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 39.7502, -120.2978. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Plumas County, CA | 52 km (33 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Plumas County |
| Nevada County, CA | 65 km (40 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Nevada County |
| Storey County, NV | 75 km (46 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Carson City, NV | 81 km (51 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Placer County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Placer County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
31 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.1 4 km ENE of Floriston, California
- 1.8 5km SSW of Cromberg, CA
- 1.8 10km NNE of Lake Davis, CA
- 1.6 4km WSW of Johnsville, CA
- 2.0 3km WSW of Cromberg, CA
- 1.5 18km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
- 1.6 2km SW of Cromberg, CA
- 2.1 5km NNE of Lake Davis, CA
- 1.9 5km NNE of Lake Davis, CA
- 2.0 9km NNW of Loyalton, CA
- 2.3 3km ENE of Greenhorn, CA
- 1.7 18km NNE of Chilcoot-Vinton, CA
- 2.1 12 km E of Chilcoot-Vinton, California
- 1.8 10km NNE of Greenhorn, CA
- 2.5 17km NNE of Chilcoot-Vinton, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.