QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Kings Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Kings Beach in the 24 hours to 2:33 pm PST (22:33 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 11 km (7 mi) SW, at 4:21 am PST on 9 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Kings Beach

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 14 km (8 mi) north of Kings Beach, CA, at 8:09 am PST on 11 March 2023 (16:09 UTC), 1.3 km deep.

USGS: 14km N of Kings Beach, CA

25 km (16 mi) SSW of Reno, NV

8:09 am PST, Mar 11, 2023 · · 1.3 km deep · released about 250 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Kings Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Carson City 32 kmStorey County 43 kmSierra County 50 kmDouglas County 61 kmNevada County 66 kmPlacer County 70 kmEl Dorado County 78 kmLyon County 80 kmAlpine County 84 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
8:09 am PST on 11 March 2023 ()
Where
14 km (8 mi) north of Kings Beach, CA · earthquakes near Kings Beach
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
1.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Carson City, 32 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
North Tahoe fault, 5 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 1278 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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Kings Beach, 14 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: Tahoe Vista 14 km, intensity II · Truckee 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 250 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 61,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 43,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 250 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 1,100 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 Near Reno, Nevada · 24 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 22 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 22 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 43 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 34 km WNW 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 39.3598, -120.0132. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carson City, NV 32 km (20 mi) SE earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 43 km (27 mi) ENE earthquakes near Storey County
Sierra County, CA 50 km (31 mi) WNW earthquakes near Sierra County
Douglas County, NV 61 km (38 mi) SE earthquakes near Douglas County
Nevada County, CA 66 km (41 mi) W earthquakes near Nevada County
Placer County, CA 70 km (43 mi) WSW earthquakes near Placer County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 5 km E of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  2. 2.2 4 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  3. 3.4 4 km E of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  4. 2.3 7 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  5. 1.6 Nevada
  6. 1.8 6 km SSE of Cold Springs, Nevada
  7. 1.9 7 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  8. 2.5 6 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  9. 2.0 Nevada
  10. 1.5 5 km SSE of Floriston, California
  11. 1.6 5 km SSE of Floriston, California
  12. 2.8 6 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  13. 2.4 7 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  14. 1.6 7 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  15. 1.6 7 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada

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.