QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

Earthquake near Reno, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Reno in the 24 hours to 12:13 pm PST (20:13 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 7 km (4 mi) SW, at 11:07 pm PDT on 10 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Reno

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) southwest of Reno, NV, at 2:29 pm PDT on 4 September 2020 (21:29 UTC), 8.9 km deep.

USGS: 8 km E of Floriston, California

17 km (11 mi) SSW of Reno, NV

2:29 pm PDT, Sep 4, 2020 · · 8.9 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Reno Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Carson City 32 kmStorey County 34 kmSierra County 55 kmDouglas County 62 kmNevada County 74 kmLyon County 76 kmPlacer County 79 kmEl Dorado County 87 kmAlpine County 88 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
2:29 pm PDT on 4 September 2020 ()
Where
17 km (10 mi) southwest of Reno, NV · earthquakes near Reno
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
8.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Carson City, 32 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Mount Rose fault, 6 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 2260 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Reno, 17 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: Mogul, Verdi, Incline Village, Kings Beach, Sparks, Tahoe Vista.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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 4,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 15 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 21 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 29 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 42 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 41 km W 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 39.4044, -119.9237. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carson City, NV 32 km (20 mi) SSE earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 34 km (21 mi) E earthquakes near Storey County
Sierra County, CA 55 km (34 mi) WNW earthquakes near Sierra County
Douglas County, NV 62 km (38 mi) SSE earthquakes near Douglas County
Nevada County, CA 74 km (46 mi) W earthquakes near Nevada County
Lyon County, NV 76 km (47 mi) SE earthquakes near Lyon 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. 2.6 4km W of Tahoe Vista, CA
  2. 1.5 14 km SE of Sparks, Nevada
  3. 2.1 2 km NE of Sun Valley, Nevada
  4. 1.7 2 km NE of Sun Valley, Nevada
  5. 1.9 2 km NE of Sun Valley, Nevada
  6. 1.5 8 km NE of Truckee, California
  7. 2.1 Nevada
  8. 1.8 8 km WNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  9. 1.6 16 km NNW of Truckee, California
  10. 1.8 9 km WNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  11. 1.8 9 km WNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  12. 2.0 8 km NW of Virginia City, Nevada
  13. 1.5 12 km W of Virginia City, Nevada
  14. 2.4 9 km WNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  15. 1.9 4 km SSE 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.