QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Tahoe Vista, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Tahoe Vista in the 24 hours to 2:29 am PST (10:29 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 10 km (6 mi) SSW, at 4:21 am PST on 9 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Tahoe Vista

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) west of Tahoe Vista, CA, at 8:24 pm PDT on 1 April 2021 (03:24 UTC), 4.9 km deep. 26 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4km W of Tahoe Vista, CA

41 km (25 mi) SSW of Reno, NV · 32 km (20 mi) WNW of Carson, NV

8:24 pm PDT, Apr 1, 2021 · · 4.9 km deep · released about 260 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Tahoe Vista Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Carson City 32 kmSierra County 52 kmStorey County 54 kmDouglas County 56 kmPlacer County 57 kmNevada County 58 kmEl Dorado County 63 kmAlpine County 73 kmLyon County 81 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
8:24 pm PDT on 1 April 2021 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) west of Tahoe Vista, CA · earthquakes near Tahoe Vista
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
4.9 km below the surface
Felt
26 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Carson City, 32 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
West Tahoe-Dollar Point fault, under 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 1980 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 23 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Tahoe Vista, 4 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: Tahoe Vista 4 km, intensity III · Sunnyside-Tahoe City 11 km, intensity III · Truckee 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 260 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 59,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 42,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 260 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 660 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 39 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 35 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 22 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 34 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 1 km NNE of Verdi, Nevada · 34 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 39.2355, -120.1002. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carson City, NV 32 km (20 mi) ESE earthquakes near Carson City
Sierra County, CA 52 km (33 mi) NW earthquakes near Sierra County
Storey County, NV 54 km (34 mi) ENE earthquakes near Storey County
Douglas County, NV 56 km (35 mi) SE earthquakes near Douglas County
Placer County, CA 57 km (35 mi) WSW earthquakes near Placer County
Nevada County, CA 58 km (36 mi) W earthquakes near Nevada County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 8 km WNW of Glenbrook, Nevada
  2. 2.7 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  3. 2.3 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  4. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  5. 2.7 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  6. 3.1 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  7. 1.9 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  8. 2.6 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  9. 2.3 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  10. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  11. 2.1 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  12. 2.0 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  13. 4.2 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  14. 2.9 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  15. 2.3 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.