QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.7mw

Earthquake near Truckee, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Truckee in the 24 hours to 10:13 am PST (18:13 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 49 km (31 mi) S, at 3:00 am PDT on 2 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 532 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Truckee

This page: a magnitude 3.7 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) north-northwest of Truckee, CA, at 6:17 pm PDT on 10 March 2020 (01:17 UTC), 7.9 km deep. 532 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 17km NNW of Truckee, CA

35 km (22 mi) WSW of Reno, NV

6:17 pm PDT, Mar 10, 2020 · · 7.9 km deep · released about 5.5 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Truckee Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 26 kmNevada County 49 kmCarson City 56 kmPlacer County 62 kmStorey County 62 kmPlumas County 76 kmEl Dorado County 81 kmDouglas County 84 kmYuba County 97 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
6:17 pm PDT on 10 March 2020 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) north-northwest of Truckee, CA · earthquakes near Truckee
Magnitude
M 3.7 (mw)
Depth
7.9 km below the surface
Felt
532 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity V (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Nearest
Sierra County, 26 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Polaris fault, 8 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1610 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 76 km (47 mi) from the epicentre. In Truckee, 17 km away, the estimate is intensity III (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Likely felt in: Truckee 17 km, intensity III · Tahoe Vista 31 km, intensity III · Cold Springs 32 km, intensity III · Sunnyside-Tahoe City 37 km, intensity II · Reno 38 km, intensity II · Portola 42 km, intensity II · Sparks 43 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.5 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 31,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.7 about 5.5 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 12× more

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.

For this area

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 38 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 16 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 9 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 27 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 14 km WSW of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 39.4752, -120.2455. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sierra County, CA 26 km (16 mi) WNW earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 49 km (31 mi) WSW earthquakes near Nevada County
Carson City, NV 56 km (35 mi) SE earthquakes near Carson City
Placer County, CA 62 km (38 mi) SW earthquakes near Placer County
Storey County, NV 62 km (39 mi) E earthquakes near Storey County
Plumas County, CA 76 km (47 mi) NW earthquakes near Plumas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 5 km SSW of Sattley, California
  2. 2.3 7km NW of Verdi-Mogul, NV
  3. 1.9 20km SW of Whitehawk, CA
  4. 2.2 15km NNW of Incline Village-Crystal Bay, NV
  5. 1.5 Northern California
  6. 1.6 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  7. 1.6 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  8. 1.5 7 km N of Incline Village, Nevada
  9. 2.4 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  10. 2.3 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  11. 1.8 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  12. 1.7 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  13. 2.0 10 km SSW of Kingvale, California
  14. 1.8 8 km E of Floriston, California
  15. 2.1 8 km E 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.