Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Nevada City, CA
USGS: 6 km SE of Nevada City, California
85 km (53 mi) NNE of Sacramento, CA · 48 km (30 mi) NE of Lincoln, CA
- When
- 4:52 pm PDT on 2 August 2016 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) SE of Nevada City, CA · earthquakes near Nevada City
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Nevada County, 19 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Foothills fault system, 15 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 3713 days ago
A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) SE of Nevada City, CA, at 4:52 pm PDT on 2 August 2016 (23:52 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Grass Valley, Colfax, Penn Valley, Lake Wildwood, Lake of the Pines, Meadow Vista.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 West of Downieville, California · 31 km N of this epicentre
- 5.1 8 km SSW of Kingvale, California · 44 km E of this epicentre
- 5.0 Nevada County, California · 20 km NNE 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 39.2223, -120.9631. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada County, CA | 19 km (11 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Nevada County |
| Placer County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Placer County |
| Yuba County, CA | 33 km (21 mi) | W | earthquakes near Yuba County |
| Sierra County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| El Dorado County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | SE | earthquakes near El Dorado County |
| Sutter County, CA | 67 km (42 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Sutter County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
39 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 6km SSE of Challenge-Brownsville, CA
- 2.0 8km ESE of Challenge-Brownsville, CA
- 2.0 10 km SSW of Kingvale, California
- 2.2 8km ESE of Challenge-Brownsville, CA
- 2.1 8km ENE of Loma Rica, CA
- 1.8 9km SSE of Challenge-Brownsville, CA
- 2.3 8km WSW of Penn Valley, CA
- 2.1 9km ENE of Loma Rica, CA
- 1.8 18 km E of Foresthill, California
- 1.6 10km E of Loma Rica, CA
- 1.9 10km ENE of Loma Rica, CA
- 2.8 25km W of Sunnyside-Tahoe City, CA
- 2.3 22km SW of Whitehawk, CA
- 2.1 19km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
- 2.1 20km SSW of Whitehawk, 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
- 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.