6km WSW of Cold Springs, NV

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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

Likely felt in: Cold Springs 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 870,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 620,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 55× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 28 km SE of this epicentre Feb 18, 1914
2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 13 km SSW of this epicentre Dec 29, 1948
3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 35 km SSW of this epicentre Sep 12, 1966
4. 5.6 6 km NNE of Doyle, California · 46 km N of this epicentre Dec 14, 1950
5. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 15 km WNW of this epicentre Apr 1, 1959

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 39.6662, -120.0430. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.5 13 km SSE of Sierraville, California 20:26 UTC
2. 2.4 21km NNW of Truckee, CA 09:20 UTC
3. 1.6 13 km SSE of Doyle, California 13:19 UTC
4. 1.6 12 km SSE of Sierraville, California 03:45 UTC
5. 1.6 12 km NE of Chilcoot-Vinton, California 01:29 UTC
6. 2.3 6km NNE of Chilcoot-Vinton, CA 15:44 UTC
7. 2.9 10km SW of Cold Springs, NV 14:54 UTC
8. 2.8 17km SSE of Whitehawk, CA 14:55 UTC
9. 2.4 15km NE of Chilcoot-Vinton, CA 10:37 UTC
10. 1.5 6 km NW of Carnelian Bay, California 21:02 UTC
11. 1.6 9 km SSW of Cold Springs, Nevada 08:16 UTC
12. 1.6 2 km WNW of Sattley, California 14:48 UTC
13. 1.7 4 km NW of Doyle, California 12:23 UTC
14. 1.7 3 km NNE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 04:47 UTC
15. 1.8 9 km NW of Loyalton, California 00:34 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 22:47 UTC. 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.