QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Truckee, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Truckee in the 24 hours to 6:48 am PST (14:48 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 2.3 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Truckee, CA, at 10:14 pm PDT on 9 May 2023 (05:14 UTC), 5.8 km deep.

USGS: 4km SSE of Truckee, CA

39 km (24 mi) SW of Reno, NV

10:14 pm PDT, May 9, 2023 · · 5.8 km deep · released about 94 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Truckee Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Carson City 39 kmSierra County 44 kmNevada County 53 kmPlacer County 55 kmStorey County 57 kmDouglas County 64 kmEl Dorado County 65 kmAlpine County 81 kmLyon 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
10:14 pm PDT on 9 May 2023 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Truckee, CA · earthquakes near Truckee
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
5.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Carson City, 39 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
West Tahoe-Dollar Point 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 1280 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 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Truckee, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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 4 km, intensity III · Tahoe Vista 11 km, intensity II · Sunnyside-Tahoe City 16 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 94 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 160,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 94 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 3,000 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 · 38 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 29 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 14 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 47 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 25 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 39.2960, -120.1597. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carson City, NV 39 km (24 mi) ESE earthquakes near Carson City
Sierra County, CA 44 km (27 mi) NW earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 53 km (33 mi) W earthquakes near Nevada County
Placer County, CA 55 km (34 mi) WSW earthquakes near Placer County
Storey County, NV 57 km (35 mi) ENE earthquakes near Storey County
Douglas County, NV 64 km (40 mi) SE earthquakes near Douglas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 6 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  2. 2.1 7 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  3. 2.3 7 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  4. 1.6 Nevada
  5. 1.8 6 km SSE of Cold Springs, Nevada
  6. 1.9 7 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  7. 2.5 6 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  8. 2.0 Nevada
  9. 1.5 5 km SSE of Floriston, California
  10. 1.6 5 km SSE of Floriston, California
  11. 2.8 6 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  12. 2.4 7 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  13. 1.6 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.