QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Truckee, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Truckee in the 24 hours to 7:30 pm PST (03:30 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 3.0 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) south of Truckee, CA, at 9:54 pm PST on 25 December 2020 (05:54 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 63 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 9km S of Truckee, CA

43 km (27 mi) SW of Reno, NV · 38 km (24 mi) WNW of Carson, NV

9:54 pm PST, Dec 25, 2020 · · -2.3 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Truckee Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Carson City 38 kmSierra County 47 kmNevada County 52 kmPlacer County 52 kmStorey County 60 kmEl Dorado County 60 kmDouglas County 62 kmAlpine County 77 kmLyon County 88 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
9:54 pm PST on 25 December 2020 ()
Where
9 km (5 mi) south of Truckee, CA · earthquakes near Truckee
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
-2.3 km below the surface
Felt
63 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Carson City, 38 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Tahoe-Sierra frontal fault, 4 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 1953 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 37 km (23 mi) from the epicentre. In Truckee, 9 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 9 km, intensity III · Tahoe Vista 11 km, intensity III · Sunnyside-Tahoe City 11 km, intensity III · Carson City 36 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.5 on 2020-03-21 — about 180 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 42 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 34 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 18 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 28 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 1 km NNE of Verdi, Nevada · 35 km NNE 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 39.2513, -120.1753. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carson City, NV 38 km (24 mi) ESE earthquakes near Carson City
Sierra County, CA 47 km (29 mi) NW earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 52 km (32 mi) W earthquakes near Nevada County
Placer County, CA 52 km (32 mi) WSW earthquakes near Placer County
Storey County, NV 60 km (37 mi) ENE earthquakes near Storey County
El Dorado County, CA 60 km (38 mi) SSW earthquakes near El Dorado 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. 2.4 16km SW of Loyalton, CA
  2. 1.6 8 km SE of Dollar Point, California
  3. 2.1 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  4. 2.3 11km N of Truckee, CA
  5. 1.6 8 km SE of Dollar Point, California
  6. 2.4 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  7. 1.5 8 km WNW of Glenbrook, Nevada
  8. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  9. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  10. 2.4 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. 3.2 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  14. 2.1 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  15. 2.4 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.