QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

20km SSW of Whitehawk, CA

· -1.0 km deep · released about 44 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 12 kmNevada County 31 kmPlumas County 49 kmPlacer County 56 kmYuba County 67 kmButte County 81 kmEl Dorado County 87 kmCarson City 91 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 2.1 (md)
Depth
-1.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sierra County, 12 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2703 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 44 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 340,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 240,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 44 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 39.5652, -120.6620. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sierra County, CA 12 km (8 mi) W of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 31 km (19 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Plumas County, CA 49 km (31 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Placer County, CA 56 km (35 mi) N of here earthquakes near Placer County
Yuba County, CA 67 km (42 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Yuba County
Butte County, CA 81 km (51 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

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

  1. 1.9 3km NNW of Johnsville, CA
  2. 1.5 Northern California
  3. 2.0 8km ESE of Challenge-Brownsville, CA
  4. 2.0 10 km SSW of Kingvale, California
  5. 2.2 8km ESE of Challenge-Brownsville, CA
  6. 1.9 5km NNE of Greenhorn, CA
  7. 1.7 6km NNE of East Quincy, CA
  8. 1.8 7km N of Greenhorn, CA
  9. 2.5 20km NW of Truckee, CA
  10. 1.5 6 km ENE of East Quincy, California
  11. 2.2 14km SW of Whitehawk, CA
  12. 2.6 15km NW of Truckee, CA
  13. 2.1 16km NW of Truckee, CA
  14. 2.0 3km NNE of Spring Garden, CA
  15. 2.0 8km SSW of Chilcoot-Vinton, 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.