QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Cold Springs, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Cold Springs in the 24 hours to 7:35 am PST (15:35 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 18 km (11 mi) ESE, at 10:33 pm PDT on 22 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 242 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Cold Springs

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 31 km (19 mi) north-northwest of Cold Springs, NV, at 7:17 pm PDT on 29 March 2018 (02:17 UTC), 8.0 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 17km NNE of Chilcoot-Vinton, CA

48 km (30 mi) NNW of Reno, NV

7:17 pm PDT, Mar 29, 2018 · · 8.0 km deep · released about 150 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cold Springs Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 56 kmPlumas County 64 kmStorey County 74 kmCarson City 93 kmNevada County 94 kmWashoe County 94 kmLassen County 97 kmPlacer County 113 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
7:17 pm PDT on 29 March 2018 ()
Where
31 km (19 mi) north-northwest of Cold Springs, NV · earthquakes near Cold Springs
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
8.0 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Sierra County, 56 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Honey Lake fault, under 1 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 3143 days ago

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 20 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Cold Springs, 31 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 150 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 72,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 150 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 1,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 44 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.6 6 km NNE of Doyle, California · 15 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 28 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 1 km NNE of Verdi, Nevada · 47 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 4 km S of Doyle, California · 5 km NW 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 39.9480, -120.0752. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sierra County, CA 56 km (35 mi) SW earthquakes near Sierra County
Plumas County, CA 64 km (40 mi) W earthquakes near Plumas County
Storey County, NV 74 km (46 mi) SE earthquakes near Storey County
Carson City, NV 93 km (58 mi) SSE earthquakes near Carson City
Nevada County, CA 94 km (58 mi) SW earthquakes near Nevada County
Washoe County, NV 94 km (58 mi) NNE earthquakes near Washoe County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 13 km SSE of Doyle, California
  2. 1.5 4 km ENE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  3. 2.8 3 km ENE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  4. 1.6 13 km SSE of Doyle, California
  5. 1.6 12 km NE of Chilcoot-Vinton, California
  6. 2.3 6km NNE of Chilcoot-Vinton, CA
  7. 2.9 10km SW of Cold Springs, NV
  8. 2.4 15km NE of Chilcoot-Vinton, CA
  9. 1.5 4 km W of Patton Village, California
  10. 1.7 38 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  11. 1.6 9 km SSW of Cold Springs, Nevada
  12. 1.9 32 km ENE of Herlong, California
  13. 1.6 2 km WNW of Sattley, California
  14. 1.7 4 km NW of Doyle, California
  15. 1.7 3 km NNE of Spanish Springs, 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.