QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

18km SW of Whitehawk, CA

· 6.5 km deep · released about 590 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 13 kmNevada County 33 kmPlumas County 47 kmPlacer County 59 kmYuba County 68 kmButte County 81 kmEl Dorado County 90 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 2.9 (md)
Depth
6.5 km below the surface
Felt
17 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Sierra County, 13 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2997 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 17 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 590 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 26,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 590 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 39.5872, -120.6677. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sierra County, CA 13 km (8 mi) W of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 33 km (21 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Plumas County, CA 47 km (29 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Placer County, CA 59 km (36 mi) N of here earthquakes near Placer County
Yuba County, CA 68 km (42 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

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

  1. 2.2 12km W of La Porte, CA
  2. 1.8 13km W of La Porte, CA
  3. 1.9 12km W of La Porte, CA
  4. 2.3 2km ESE of Johnsville, CA
  5. 1.5 14 km SSE of Sierraville, California
  6. 2.1 19km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
  7. 2.0 12km SSE of Bucks Lake, CA
  8. 1.6 7 km SSE of Sierraville, California
  9. 2.3 10km NNW of Truckee, CA
  10. 2.1 20km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
  11. 2.4 20km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
  12. 1.8 2 km E of Cromberg, California
  13. 1.6 7 km NNE of Plumas Eureka, California
  14. 1.7 6 km N of Greenhorn, California
  15. 1.5 13 km SSE of Sierraville, California

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.