QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3mw

Earthquake near Truckee, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Truckee in the 24 hours to 6:05 am PST (14:05 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 3.3 earthquake was recorded 25 km (15 mi) west-northwest of Truckee, CA, at 1:25 am PDT on 23 June 2021 (08:25 UTC), 10 km deep. 182 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 24km WNW of Truckee, CA

56 km (35 mi) WSW of Reno, NV

1:25 am PDT, Jun 23, 2021 · · 10 km deep · released about 1.3 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Truckee Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 23 kmNevada County 28 kmPlacer County 41 kmEl Dorado County 66 kmCarson City 66 kmPlumas County 76 kmYuba County 77 kmStorey County 81 kmDouglas County 90 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
1:25 am PDT on 23 June 2021 ()
Where
25 km (15 mi) west-northwest of Truckee, CA · earthquakes near Truckee
Magnitude
M 3.3 (mw)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
182 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Sierra County, 23 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Mohawk Valley fault, 18 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 1903 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 51 km (32 mi) from the epicentre. In Truckee, 25 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 25 km, intensity II · Sunnyside-Tahoe City 36 km, intensity II · Tahoe Vista 38 km, intensity II · Portola 49 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 5,600× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.3 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.8× 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.7 on 2021-05-07 — about 110 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 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 38 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 West of Downieville, California · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 18 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 44 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 8 km NE 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 39.3727, -120.4627. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sierra County, CA 23 km (14 mi) NNW earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 28 km (17 mi) WSW earthquakes near Nevada County
Placer County, CA 41 km (26 mi) SSW earthquakes near Placer County
El Dorado County, CA 66 km (41 mi) S earthquakes near El Dorado County
Carson City, NV 66 km (41 mi) ESE earthquakes near Carson City
Plumas County, CA 76 km (47 mi) NNW earthquakes near Plumas 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. 1.5 2 km ESE of Truckee, California
  2. 1.8 3km ENE of Dollar Point, CA
  3. 2.3 3km ENE of Dollar Point, CA
  4. 2.0 12km NW of Truckee, CA
  5. 1.6 3km ENE of Dollar Point, CA
  6. 1.6 3km ENE of Dollar Point, CA
  7. 3.1 10km ESE of Loyalton, CA
  8. 2.8 15km WSW of Loyalton, CA
  9. 1.7 4 km WNW of Sierra City, California
  10. 1.5 3 km WNW of Sierra City, California
  11. 2.2 16km WSW of Loyalton, CA
  12. 2.1 17km SSW of Loyalton, CA
  13. 1.5 5 km SSE of Sierraville, California
  14. 2.1 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  15. 2.8 6 km SE of Floriston, California

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.