QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

24km SSW of Smith Valley, NV

· 1.2 km deep · released about 40 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alpine County 29 kmDouglas County 37 kmLyon County 53 kmCarson City 67 kmTuolumne County 77 kmMono County 91 kmMineral County 91 kmStorey County 94 kmEl Dorado County 96 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
1.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Alpine County, 29 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2683 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 40 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 5.8 380,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 270,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 24× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 40 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 38.5903, -119.4627. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Alpine County, CA 29 km (18 mi) E of here earthquakes near Alpine County
Douglas County, NV 37 km (23 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Douglas County
Lyon County, NV 53 km (33 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Lyon County
Carson City, NV 67 km (42 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Carson City
Tuolumne County, CA 77 km (48 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Tuolumne County
Mono County, CA 91 km (56 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Mono County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 20km E of Markleeville, CA
  2. 2.7 21km E of Markleeville, CA
  3. 1.5 2 km S of Topaz Lake, Nevada
  4. 1.9 9km ESE of Bridgeport, CA
  5. 3.0 21km SW of Smith Valley, NV
  6. 1.6 2 km NNW of Bridgeport, California
  7. 1.5 8 km N of Bridgeport, California
  8. 1.6 20 km W of Bridgeport, California
  9. 2.2 18km E of Markleeville, CA
  10. 2.3 27km NW of Bridgeport, CA
  11. 2.1 8km WNW of Bridgeport, CA
  12. 2.0 18 km WNW of Yerington, Nevada
  13. 1.9 17 km WNW of Yerington, Nevada
  14. 2.0 5km NE of Bridgeport, CA
  15. 2.1 32km SE of Markleeville, 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.