QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

7km NW of Verdi-Mogul, NV

Yes. A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 7km NW of Verdi-Mogul, NV, 14 km (9 mi) W of Reno, NV, at 8:49 pm PST on 22 November 2020 (04:49 UTC), 5.7 km deep.

14 km (9 mi) W of Reno, NV

· 5.7 km deep · released about 88 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 43 kmStorey County 44 kmCarson City 51 kmNevada County 71 kmDouglas County 81 kmPlacer County 82 kmPlumas County 84 kmLyon County 92 kmEl Dorado 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
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
5.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sierra County, 43 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Dog Valley fault, 1 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 2170 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Cold Springs 14 km, intensity II · Reno 18 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 88 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 88 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.

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 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 20 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 6 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 28 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 24 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 36 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 39.5588, -120.0168. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sierra County, CA 43 km (27 mi) W earthquakes near Sierra County
Storey County, NV 44 km (28 mi) ESE earthquakes near Storey County
Carson City, NV 51 km (32 mi) SSE earthquakes near Carson City
Nevada County, CA 71 km (44 mi) WSW earthquakes near Nevada County
Douglas County, NV 81 km (50 mi) SSE earthquakes near Douglas County
Placer County, CA 82 km (51 mi) SW earthquakes near Placer County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  2. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  3. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  4. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  5. 2.1 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  6. 3.2 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  7. 2.1 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  8. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  9. 1.6 8 km SE of Dollar Point, California
  10. 2.5 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  11. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  12. 2.1 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  13. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  14. 2.5 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  15. 2.9 9km SE of Dollar Point, 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.