QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

10km SW of Cold Springs, NV

· -1.5 km deep · released about 700 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 41 kmStorey County 48 kmCarson City 57 kmNevada County 71 kmPlumas County 79 kmPlacer County 84 kmDouglas County 87 kmLyon County 98 kmEl Dorado County 101 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
-1.5 km below the surface
Felt
7 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Sierra County, 41 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2746 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 7 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 700 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 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 15,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 700 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 39.6090, -120.0435. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sierra County, CA 41 km (26 mi) E of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Storey County, NV 48 km (30 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Storey County
Carson City, NV 57 km (35 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Carson City
Nevada County, CA 71 km (44 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Plumas County, CA 79 km (49 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Placer County, CA 84 km (52 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Placer County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.7 17km NNW of Truckee, CA
  2. 1.5 6 km SW of Cold Springs, Nevada
  3. 2.0 6 km SW of Cold Springs, Nevada
  4. 2.8 6km WSW of Cold Springs, NV
  5. 1.6 1 km SSE of Golden Valley, Nevada
  6. 2.7 4km N of Dollar Point, CA
  7. 1.6 3 km NNE of Truckee, California
  8. 1.5 5 km S of Floriston, California
  9. 2.7 5 km SSE of Floriston, California
  10. 1.6 5 km N of Truckee, California
  11. 1.9 Nevada
  12. 2.0 21km NW of Truckee, CA
  13. 2.1 12 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  14. 1.9 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  15. 3.1 4km WNW of Tahoe Vista, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.