Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.5ml
Earthquake near Janesville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Janesville in the 24 hours to 3:55 am PST (11:55 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 9 km (6 mi) E, at 8:04 pm PDT on 4 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Janesville
This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) east-northeast of Janesville, CA, at 2:25 pm PDT on 3 August 2017 (21:25 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 31 km NNE of Herlong, California
96 km (60 mi) N of Reno, NV
- When
- 2:25 pm PDT on 3 August 2017 ()
- Where
- 47 km (29 mi) east-northeast of Janesville, CA · earthquakes near Janesville
- Magnitude
- M 3.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Measured shaking
- intensity II (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Washoe County, 45 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Dry Valley-Smoke Creek Ranch 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 1609 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Janesville, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Janesville, CA. No account or email needed.
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 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 62 km (39 mi) from the epicentre. In Janesville, 47 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 2.7 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 63,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.7 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.6× 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 2016-08-04 — about 30 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 6 km NNE of Doyle, California · 37 km S of this epicentre
- 5.3 4 km S of Doyle, California · 48 km SSW 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 40.4066, -119.9854. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washoe County, NV | 45 km (28 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Washoe County |
| Lassen County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Lassen County |
| Plumas County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Plumas County |
| Sierra County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Storey County, NV | 115 km (71 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Storey County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 26 km W of Empire, Nevada
- 1.5 14 km NW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 2.3 27km SE of Honey Lake, CA
- 1.9 22 km W of Empire, Nevada
- 2.5 26 km W of Empire, Nevada
- 2.4 27 km W of Empire, Nevada
- 2.3 40 km N of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.7 24 km W of Empire, Nevada
- 1.6 35 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.6 35 km N of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.7 24 km WSW of Gerlach, Nevada
- 1.6 27 km ENE of Herlong, California
- 1.9 23 km WSW of Empire, Nevada
- 2.0 23 km WSW of Empire, Nevada
- 2.5 29 km WSW of Gerlach, 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
- 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.