QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

Earthquake near Reno, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Reno in the 24 hours to 12:30 pm PST (20:30 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 7 km (4 mi) SW, at 11:07 pm PDT on 10 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Reno

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) west of Reno, NV, at 2:46 pm PDT on 23 October 2021 (21:46 UTC), 6.0 km deep. 16 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 14km SSW of Loyalton, CA

40 km (25 mi) W of Reno, NV

2:46 pm PDT, Oct 23, 2021 · · 6.0 km deep · released about 1,500 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Reno Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 18 kmNevada County 49 kmPlumas County 65 kmPlacer County 66 kmCarson City 67 kmStorey County 69 kmEl Dorado County 89 kmYuba County 94 kmDouglas County 95 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
2:46 pm PDT on 23 October 2021 ()
Where
43 km (27 mi) west of Reno, NV · earthquakes near Reno
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
6.0 km below the surface
Felt
16 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Sierra County, 18 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Mohawk Valley fault, 7 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 1769 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 Reno, 43 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 28 km, intensity II · Portola 31 km, intensity II · Cold Springs 32 km, intensity II · Tahoe Vista 42 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 6.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 10,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,200× 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.7 on 2021-05-07 — about 190 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 · 45 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 20 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 19 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 20 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 17 km SSW 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 39.5632, -120.3128. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sierra County, CA 18 km (11 mi) W earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 49 km (31 mi) SW earthquakes near Nevada County
Plumas County, CA 65 km (40 mi) NW earthquakes near Plumas County
Placer County, CA 66 km (41 mi) SSW earthquakes near Placer County
Carson City, NV 67 km (41 mi) SE earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 69 km (43 mi) ESE earthquakes near Storey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 5 km NNW of Plumas Eureka (historical), 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. 2.2 4km NE of Lake Davis, CA
  7. 1.6 3km ENE of Dollar Point, CA
  8. 3.1 10km ESE of Loyalton, CA
  9. 2.8 15km WSW of Loyalton, CA
  10. 1.7 4 km WNW of Sierra City, California
  11. 2.1 4 km SSE of Cold Springs, Nevada
  12. 1.5 4 km SE of Cold Springs, Nevada
  13. 1.5 3 km WNW of Sierra City, California
  14. 2.2 16km WSW of Loyalton, CA
  15. 2.1 17km SSW of Loyalton, 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.