QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Reno, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Reno in the 24 hours to 1:02 pm PST (21:02 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 2.1 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) west of Reno, NV, at 9:15 pm PDT on 3 August 2022 (04:15 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 24km SSW of Loyalton, CA

46 km (28 mi) W of Reno, NV

9:15 pm PDT, Aug 3, 2022 · · -2.2 km deep · released about 51 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Reno Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 16 kmNevada County 40 kmPlacer County 56 kmCarson City 66 kmPlumas County 68 kmStorey County 73 kmEl Dorado County 80 kmYuba County 87 kmDouglas County 93 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
9:15 pm PDT on 3 August 2022 ()
Where
48 km (30 mi) west of Reno, NV · earthquakes near Reno
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
-2.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sierra County, 16 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Mohawk Valley fault, 3 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 1561 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Reno, 48 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Truckee.

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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.7 on 2021-05-07 — about 5,600 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 · 50 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 26 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 15 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 29 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 7 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 39.4922, -120.3768. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sierra County, CA 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 40 km (25 mi) WSW earthquakes near Nevada County
Placer County, CA 56 km (35 mi) SSW earthquakes near Placer County
Carson City, NV 66 km (41 mi) SE earthquakes near Carson City
Plumas County, CA 68 km (42 mi) NW earthquakes near Plumas County
Storey County, NV 73 km (46 mi) E earthquakes near Storey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 17km WSW of Loyalton, CA
  2. 1.8 12 km E of Floriston, California
  3. 2.4 6km NW of Johnsville, CA
  4. 1.6 5 km WNW of Plumas Eureka, California
  5. 2.0 5 km NNW of Plumas Eureka (historical), California
  6. 2.0 22km WNW of Truckee, CA
  7. 1.9 1 km NE of Carnelian Bay, California
  8. 1.8 4km WSW of Tahoe Vista, CA
  9. 1.9 4km N of Dollar Point, CA
  10. 1.9 4km WSW of Tahoe Vista, CA
  11. 2.3 11km NW of Verdi-Mogul, NV
  12. 2.7 21km WNW of Sunnyside-Tahoe City, CA
  13. 1.9 6 km NNW of Verdi, California
  14. 1.6 6 km NNW of Beckwourth, California
  15. 1.6 8 km SSE of Johnsville, 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.