QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

20km SW of Whitehawk, CA

· -0.8 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 15 kmNevada County 33 kmPlumas County 46 kmPlacer County 59 kmYuba County 66 kmButte County 78 kmEl Dorado County 91 kmCarson City 96 kmStorey County 102 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 1.9 (md)
Depth
-0.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sierra County, 15 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1602 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 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 39.5935, -120.7015. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sierra County, CA 15 km (10 mi) W of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 33 km (21 mi) N of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Plumas County, CA 46 km (28 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Placer County, CA 59 km (37 mi) N of here earthquakes near Placer County
Yuba County, CA 66 km (41 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Yuba County
Butte County, CA 78 km (48 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. 3.1 14km SSW of Loyalton, CA
  2. 2.8 11km NNE of Lake Davis, CA
  3. 1.7 35km WNW of Truckee, CA
  4. 2.1 7km N of Greenhorn, CA
  5. 2.1 1km WNW of Lake Davis, CA
  6. 2.0 19km SW of Loyalton, CA
  7. 1.5 6 km SSE of Quincy, California
  8. 2.2 6km SSE of Quincy, CA
  9. 3.3 24km WNW of Truckee, CA
  10. 2.5 19km NW of Truckee, CA
  11. 1.8 0 km S of Lake Davis, California
  12. 2.6 0km W of Lake Davis, CA
  13. 1.6 7 km ENE of Cromberg, California
  14. 2.5 1km NW of Lake Davis, CA
  15. 2.4 1km NW of Lake Davis, 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.