QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

17km SSE of Whitehawk, CA

· -1.4 km deep · released about 510 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 6 kmNevada County 42 kmPlumas County 55 kmPlacer County 62 kmCarson City 78 kmStorey County 82 kmYuba County 84 kmEl Dorado County 89 kmButte 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 2.8 (md)
Depth
-1.4 km below the surface
Felt
13 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Sierra County, 6 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2752 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 13 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 510 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 30,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 21,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 510 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 39.5847, -120.4557. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sierra County, CA 6 km (4 mi) E of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 42 km (26 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Plumas County, CA 55 km (34 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Placer County, CA 62 km (39 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Placer County
Carson City, NV 78 km (48 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 82 km (51 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Storey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 5km NW of Cold Springs, NV
  2. 2.3 5km NNE of Little Grass Valley, CA
  3. 2.4 6 km SW of Cold Springs, Nevada
  4. 1.8 5 km SW of Cold Springs, Nevada
  5. 2.8 17km NNW of Truckee, CA
  6. 2.4 18km NNW of Truckee, CA
  7. 3.7 17km NNW of Truckee, CA
  8. 1.5 6 km SW of Cold Springs, Nevada
  9. 2.0 6 km SW of Cold Springs, Nevada
  10. 2.8 6km WSW of Cold Springs, NV
  11. 2.3 22km SW of Whitehawk, CA
  12. 2.7 4km N of Dollar Point, CA
  13. 2.8 8km WNW of Lake Davis, CA
  14. 1.6 3 km NNE of Truckee, California
  15. 1.5 5 km S of Floriston, 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.