Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.3mw
9 km WSW of South Lake Tahoe, CA
41 km (25 mi) SW of Carson, NV · 126 km (78 mi) ENE of Sacramento, CA
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.3 (mw)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 500 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Alpine County, 39 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- West Tahoe-Dollar Point 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 9 hours ago
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 500 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 140,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 6,200× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,400× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.2 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.5× more
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 4.5 on 2020-03-21 — about 70 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 38 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.1 10 km SE of South Lake Tahoe, California · 16 km E of this epicentre
- 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 35 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.0 12 km S of South Lake Tahoe, California · 12 km SE 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 38.8935, -120.0807. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Alpine County |
| Carson City, NV | 41 km (25 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Douglas County, NV | 41 km (25 mi) | E | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| El Dorado County, CA | 41 km (26 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near El Dorado County |
| Placer County, CA | 59 km (36 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Placer County |
| Amador County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Amador County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
No further earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| felt reports | 499 | 500 | |
| felt reports | 498 | 499 | |
| felt reports | 496 | 498 | |
| felt reports | 494 | 496 | |
| measured intensity | 3.21 | 3.58 | |
| felt reports | 465 | 494 | |
| location | 10 km WSW of South Lake Tahoe, CA | 9 km WSW of South Lake Tahoe, CA | |
| longitude | -120.08 | -120.08 | |
| latitude | 38.89 | 38.89 | |
| depth | 7.01 | 10.9 | |
| felt reports | 464 | 465 | |
| felt reports | 463 | 464 |
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.