QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

5km SE of Chilcoot-Vinton, CA

· 3.7 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 42 kmStorey County 62 kmPlumas County 67 kmCarson City 75 kmNevada County 78 kmPlacer County 96 kmDouglas County 105 kmWashoe County 113 kmLyon County 114 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 2.4 (md)
Depth
3.7 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Sierra County, 42 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2528 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 92,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 39.7723, -120.0970. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sierra County, CA 42 km (26 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Storey County, NV 62 km (38 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Storey County
Plumas County, CA 67 km (41 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Carson City, NV 75 km (47 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Carson City
Nevada County, CA 78 km (49 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Placer County, CA 96 km (59 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. 1.6 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  2. 1.5 16 km ENE of Doyle, California
  3. 2.4 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  4. 2.3 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  5. 1.8 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  6. 1.7 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  7. 1.7 14 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  8. 1.8 8 km E of Floriston, California
  9. 2.1 8 km E of Floriston, California
  10. 1.7 8 km E of Floriston, California
  11. 1.8 8 km E of Floriston, California
  12. 1.5 8 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  13. 1.5 13 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  14. 2.5 20km NW of Truckee, CA
  15. 2.8 9 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada

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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.5 on 2016-08-04 — it released about 1,400 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

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