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 5:04 am PST (13:04 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 5 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Carson City, NV, at 7:17 pm PDT on 20 March 2020 (02:17 UTC), 9.7 km deep.

USGS: 5 km SSE of Carson City, Nevada

in Carson, NV · 48 km (30 mi) SSE of Reno, NV

7:17 pm PDT, Mar 20, 2020 · · 9.7 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 3 kmDouglas County 27 kmStorey County 40 kmLyon County 48 kmAlpine County 56 kmEl Dorado County 78 kmSierra County 84 kmPlacer County 85 kmNevada County 91 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
7:17 pm PDT on 20 March 2020 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Carson City, NV · earthquakes near Carson City
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
9.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Carson City, 3 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Carson City fault, 3 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 2428 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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Carson City, 5 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: Indian Hills, Johnson Lane, Dayton, Minden, Gardnerville, East Valley.

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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.5 on 2020-03-21 — about 32,000 times the energy of this one.

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 · 37 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 35 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 42 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 48 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 1 km NNE of Verdi, Nevada · 50 km NNW 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 39.1232, -119.7377. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carson City, NV 3 km (2 mi) NNW earthquakes near Carson City
Douglas County, NV 27 km (17 mi) SSE earthquakes near Douglas County
Storey County, NV 40 km (25 mi) NNE earthquakes near Storey County
Lyon County, NV 48 km (30 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lyon County
Alpine County, CA 56 km (35 mi) S earthquakes near Alpine County
El Dorado County, CA 78 km (49 mi) WSW earthquakes near El Dorado County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 6 km NNE of Fish Springs, Nevada
  2. 2.6 8km N of Truckee, CA
  3. 2.0 3km E of Truckee, CA
  4. 1.9 3 km N of Reno, Nevada
  5. 1.8 3 km N of Reno, Nevada
  6. 3.0 9km S of Truckee, CA
  7. 1.7 8 km WNW of Carson City, Nevada
  8. 2.2 8km NE of Markleeville, CA
  9. 2.2 15km NNW of Incline Village-Crystal Bay, NV
  10. 1.5 Northern California
  11. 1.9 4 km S of Dayton, Nevada
  12. 2.3 8km NE of Markleeville, CA
  13. 1.5 7 km N of Incline Village, Nevada
  14. 2.2 4 km S of Dayton, Nevada
  15. 2.2 4 km S of Dayton, 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.