QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Sun Valley, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Sun Valley in the 24 hours to 8:05 am PST (16:05 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 15 km (9 mi) SSW, at 11:07 pm PDT on 10 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Sun Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 2 km (2 mi) west of Sun Valley, NV, at 3:24 am PDT on 2 May 2020 (10:24 UTC), 9.9 km deep.

USGS: 2 km W of Sun Valley, Nevada

7 km (4 mi) NE of Reno, NV

3:24 am PDT, May 2, 2020 · · 9.9 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Sun Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Storey County 30 kmCarson City 50 kmSierra County 62 kmDouglas County 79 kmLyon County 83 kmNevada County 90 kmPlumas County 98 kmPlacer County 99 kmAlpine County 109 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
3:24 am PDT on 2 May 2020 ()
Where
2 km (2 mi) west of Sun Valley, NV · earthquakes near Sun Valley
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
9.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Storey County, 30 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Spanish Springs Valley fault, 10 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 2386 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Sun Valley, 2 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: Golden Valley, Lemmon Valley, Reno, Sparks, Spanish Springs, Mogul.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 40 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 11 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 24 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 45 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 36 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 39.5987, -119.8044. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Storey County, NV 30 km (19 mi) SE earthquakes near Storey County
Carson City, NV 50 km (31 mi) S earthquakes near Carson City
Sierra County, CA 62 km (38 mi) W earthquakes near Sierra County
Douglas County, NV 79 km (49 mi) SSE earthquakes near Douglas County
Lyon County, NV 83 km (51 mi) SE earthquakes near Lyon County
Nevada County, CA 90 km (56 mi) WSW earthquakes near Nevada County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 3 km N of Reno, Nevada
  2. 1.8 3 km N of Reno, Nevada
  3. 1.9 8 km W of Wadsworth, Nevada
  4. 1.6 6 km NNW of Verdi, California
  5. 2.7 11km NW of Verdi-Mogul, NV
  6. 1.6 7 km NNW of Verdi, California
  7. 1.5 7 km NNW of Verdi, California
  8. 1.5 7 km NNW of Verdi, California
  9. 1.7 8 km WNW of Carson City, Nevada
  10. 2.2 9 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  11. 1.7 19 km WSW of Wadsworth, Nevada
  12. 3.8 10 km N of Stagecoach, Nevada
  13. 2.3 7km NW of Verdi-Mogul, NV
  14. 2.2 15km NNW of Incline Village-Crystal Bay, NV
  15. 1.5 Northern California

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.