QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

Earthquake near Truckee, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Truckee in the 24 hours to 9:18 am PST (17:18 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 3.1 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) northwest of Truckee, CA, at 9:26 pm PDT on 6 May 2021 (04:26 UTC), 9.4 km deep. 163 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 19km NW of Truckee, CA

41 km (26 mi) WSW of Reno, NV

9:26 pm PDT, May 6, 2021 · · 9.4 km deep · released about 1,500 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Truckee Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 22 kmNevada County 43 kmPlacer County 57 kmCarson City 60 kmStorey County 68 kmPlumas County 73 kmEl Dorado County 78 kmDouglas County 87 kmYuba County 91 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
9:26 pm PDT on 6 May 2021 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) northwest of Truckee, CA · earthquakes near Truckee
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
9.4 km below the surface
Felt
163 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Sierra County, 22 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Mohawk Valley fault, 8 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 1938 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 42 km (26 mi) from the epicentre. In Truckee, 19 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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 19 km, intensity II · Tahoe Vista 34 km, intensity II · Sunnyside-Tahoe City 37 km, intensity II · Cold Springs 38 km, intensity II · Portola 41 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,500 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 220,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,500 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.6× more

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

  1. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 45 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 22 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 9 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 30 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 8 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 39.4648, -120.3168. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sierra County, CA 22 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 43 km (27 mi) WSW earthquakes near Nevada County
Placer County, CA 57 km (35 mi) SW earthquakes near Placer County
Carson City, NV 60 km (37 mi) SE earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 68 km (42 mi) E earthquakes near Storey County
Plumas County, CA 73 km (45 mi) NW earthquakes near Plumas 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. 2.0 19km SW of Loyalton, CA
  2. 3.3 24km WNW of Truckee, CA
  3. 2.9 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  4. 2.5 19km NW of Truckee, CA
  5. 1.8 0 km S of Lake Davis, California
  6. 2.1 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  7. 2.0 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  8. 2.5 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  9. 1.9 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  10. 1.9 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  11. 1.9 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  12. 2.0 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  13. 2.3 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  14. 2.4 9km 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.