QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

18km WSW of Loyalton, CA

· 9.6 km deep · released about 51 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 9 kmNevada County 44 kmPlumas County 57 kmPlacer County 64 kmCarson City 75 kmStorey County 79 kmYuba County 87 kmEl Dorado County 90 kmButte 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 2.1 (md)
Depth
9.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sierra County, 9 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2046 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 51 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 51 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 39.5868, -120.4212. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sierra County, CA 9 km (5 mi) E of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 44 km (27 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Plumas County, CA 57 km (35 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Placer County, CA 64 km (40 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Placer County
Carson City, NV 75 km (47 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 79 km (49 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Storey 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. 1.5 3 km SSE of Greenhorn, California
  2. 1.6 6 km ENE of Floriston, California
  3. 2.1 6km N of Tahoe Vista, CA
  4. 2.2 3km WSW of Cromberg, CA
  5. 2.1 6km SW of Cromberg, CA
  6. 3.1 14km SSW of Loyalton, CA
  7. 2.1 7 km ENE of Floriston, California
  8. 1.5 7 km ENE of Floriston, California
  9. 2.8 11km NNE of Lake Davis, CA
  10. 1.9 4 km SSE of Floriston, California
  11. 1.5 3 km SSE of Floriston, California
  12. 1.7 35km WNW of Truckee, CA
  13. 2.1 7km N of Greenhorn, CA
  14. 2.1 1km WNW of Lake Davis, CA
  15. 2.2 4km ESE of Truckee, 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.