QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

14 km SSE of Sierraville, California

· 6.2 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 21 kmNevada County 42 kmPlacer County 56 kmCarson City 61 kmStorey County 69 kmPlumas County 72 kmEl Dorado County 77 kmDouglas County 88 kmYuba County 90 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
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
6.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sierra County, 21 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2639 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. 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.

Where

Epicentre 39.4628, -120.3300. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sierra County, CA 21 km (13 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 42 km (26 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Placer County, CA 56 km (35 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Placer County
Carson City, NV 61 km (38 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 69 km (43 mi) W of here earthquakes near Storey County
Plumas County, CA 72 km (45 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Plumas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  2. 1.7 4 km E of Cold Springs, Nevada
  3. 2.0 10 km SSW of Kingvale, California
  4. 1.8 8 km E of Floriston, California
  5. 2.1 8 km E of Floriston, California
  6. 1.7 8 km E of Floriston, California
  7. 1.8 8 km E of Floriston, California
  8. 2.5 20km NW of Truckee, CA
  9. 2.2 14km SW of Whitehawk, CA
  10. 2.6 15km NW of Truckee, CA
  11. 2.1 16km NW of Truckee, CA
  12. 2.0 8km SSW of Chilcoot-Vinton, CA
  13. 1.6 11 km S of Reno, Nevada
  14. 2.1 8km N of Truckee, CA
  15. 1.8 15km NW of Truckee, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.