QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near South Lake Tahoe, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in South Lake Tahoe in the 24 hours to 4:40 am PST (12:40 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 10 km (6 mi) WSW, at 11:58 pm PDT on 2 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 85 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near South Lake Tahoe

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 32 km (20 mi) south-southeast of South Lake Tahoe, CA, at 8:48 am PST on 16 December 2022 (16:48 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 5km WSW of Markleeville, CA

55 km (34 mi) S of Carson, NV · 141 km (88 mi) E of Sacramento, CA

8:48 am PST, Dec 16, 2022 · · -1.2 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near South Lake Tahoe Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alpine County 6 kmDouglas County 34 kmCarson City 55 kmEl Dorado County 61 kmLyon County 69 kmTuolumne County 72 kmAmador County 74 kmCalaveras County 81 kmPlacer County 88 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
8:48 am PST on 16 December 2022 ()
Where
32 km (20 mi) south-southeast of South Lake Tahoe, CA · earthquakes near South Lake Tahoe
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
-1.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Alpine County, 6 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Genoa fault, 2 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 1427 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In South Lake Tahoe, 32 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Gardnerville Ranchos.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 6.0 on 2021-07-08 — about 3,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 24 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 10 km SE of South Lake Tahoe, California · 23 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 18 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 Near Coleville, California · 32 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 12 km S of South Lake Tahoe, California · 21 km NW 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 38.6635, -119.8488. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alpine County, CA 6 km (4 mi) SE earthquakes near Alpine County
Douglas County, NV 34 km (21 mi) NE earthquakes near Douglas County
Carson City, NV 55 km (34 mi) N earthquakes near Carson City
El Dorado County, CA 61 km (38 mi) WNW earthquakes near El Dorado County
Lyon County, NV 69 km (43 mi) NE earthquakes near Lyon County
Tuolumne County, CA 72 km (45 mi) S earthquakes near Tuolumne County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 2 km S of Coleville, California
  2. 1.6 0 km SSE of Topaz Lake, Nevada
  3. 1.5 6 km S of Gardnerville Ranchos, Nevada
  4. 2.2 6km WSW of Walker, CA
  5. 1.6 7 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada
  6. 1.6 8km SSW of Markleeville, CA
  7. 2.5 17km NW of Walker, CA
  8. 1.5 4 km W of Walker, California
  9. 2.4 5km W of Walker, CA
  10. 2.3 13km SW of Walker, CA
  11. 1.6 3 km NNE of Carter Springs, Nevada
  12. 2.2 7km SSE of Markleeville, CA
  13. 2.6 6km SSE of Markleeville, CA
  14. 3.1 6km SSE of Markleeville, CA
  15. 2.4 16km NW of Walker, 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.