Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3md
Earthquake near South Lake Tahoe, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in South Lake Tahoe in the 24 hours to 6:16 am PST (14:16 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 2.3 earthquake was recorded 31 km (19 mi) south-southeast of South Lake Tahoe, CA, at 1:16 am PST on 11 December 2024 (09:16 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 3 km W of Markleeville, CA
53 km (33 mi) S of Carson, NV · 143 km (89 mi) E of Sacramento, CA
- When
- 1:16 am PST on 11 December 2024 ()
- Where
- 31 km (19 mi) south-southeast of South Lake Tahoe, CA · earthquakes near South Lake Tahoe
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (md)
- Depth
- -1.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Alpine County, 7 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Genoa fault, under 1 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 693 days ago
Earthquake alerts for South Lake Tahoe, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 South Lake Tahoe, 31 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: Gardnerville Ranchos, Topaz Ranch Estates, Gardnerville.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 77 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 77 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 390,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 22 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.1 10 km SE of South Lake Tahoe, California · 22 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 15 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.0 Near Coleville, California · 31 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.0 12 km S of South Lake Tahoe, California · 20 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 38.6815, -119.8277. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine County, CA | 7 km (4 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Alpine County |
| Douglas County, NV | 31 km (19 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Carson City, NV | 53 km (33 mi) | N | earthquakes near Carson City |
| El Dorado County, CA | 62 km (39 mi) | W | earthquakes near El Dorado County |
| Lyon County, NV | 66 km (41 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Tuolumne County, CA | 74 km (46 mi) | S | earthquakes near Tuolumne County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 22 km SSW of Tahoma, CA
- 1.8 22 km SSW of Tahoma, CA
- 1.9 10 km NNE of Fish Springs, Nevada
- 1.5 5 km W of Walker, California
- 1.6 1 km SE of Topaz Lake, Nevada
- 1.8 2 km NNW of Topaz Lake, Nevada
- 1.7 12 km SW of Walker, California
- 2.0 7 km SW of Markleeville, CA
- 2.4 6 km SW of Markleeville, CA
- 2.2 4 km SW of Walker, CA
- 1.5 3 km W of Topaz Lake, Nevada
- 1.6 1 km SE of Johnson Lane, Nevada
- 2.1 19 km NNW of Walker, CA
- 1.5 4 km W of Walker, California
- 1.5 14 km SSW of Walker, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.