QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Carson City, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Carson City in the 24 hours to 4:40 am PST (12:40 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) SSE, at 9:41 am PST on 2 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Carson City

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) northwest of Carson City, NV, at 2:58 am PDT on 11 September 2019 (09:58 UTC), 6.8 km deep.

USGS: 9 km NW of Carson City, Nevada

11 km (7 mi) NW of Carson, NV · 35 km (22 mi) S of Reno, NV

2:58 am PDT, Sep 11, 2019 · · 6.8 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Carson City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Carson City 11 kmStorey County 35 kmDouglas County 41 kmLyon County 59 kmAlpine County 68 kmSierra County 71 kmEl Dorado County 79 kmPlacer County 79 kmNevada County 81 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
2:58 am PDT on 11 September 2019 ()
Where
9 km (6 mi) northwest of Carson City, NV · earthquakes near Carson City
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
6.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Carson City, 11 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Little Valley 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 2620 days ago

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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Carson City, 9 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: Incline Village, Indian Hills, Kings Beach, Tahoe Vista, Dayton, Johnson Lane.

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.

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 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 44 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 49 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 30 km N of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 41 km WNW 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 39.2343, -119.8286. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carson City, NV 11 km (7 mi) SE earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 35 km (22 mi) NE earthquakes near Storey County
Douglas County, NV 41 km (26 mi) SSE earthquakes near Douglas County
Lyon County, NV 59 km (37 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lyon County
Alpine County, CA 68 km (42 mi) S earthquakes near Alpine County
Sierra County, CA 71 km (44 mi) WNW earthquakes near Sierra 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. 2.8 15km NW of Truckee, CA
  2. 2.2 3km NE of Dollar Point, CA
  3. 2.1 8km N of Truckee, CA
  4. 2.2 15km NW of Truckee, CA
  5. 2.5 16km W of Truckee, CA
  6. 2.0 18 km WNW of Yerington, Nevada
  7. 1.6 17 km WNW of Yerington, Nevada
  8. 1.9 17 km WNW of Yerington, Nevada
  9. 1.6 2 km W of Sun Valley, Nevada
  10. 1.5 2 km SE of Golden Valley, Nevada
  11. 1.6 Nevada
  12. 1.6 5 km SE of Carson City, Nevada
  13. 2.0 11km NNE of Tahoe Vista, CA
  14. 2.1 4 km NE of Indian Hills, Nevada
  15. 1.6 5 km NE of Indian Hills, 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

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