QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Reno, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Reno in the 24 hours to 11:19 am PST (19:19 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 33 km (20 mi) west-southwest of Reno, NV, at 3:13 pm PST on 8 November 2020 (23:13 UTC), 11 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: Northern California

31 km (19 mi) WSW of Reno, NV

3:13 pm PST, Nov 8, 2020 · · 11 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Reno Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 36 kmCarson City 46 kmNevada County 54 kmStorey County 55 kmPlacer County 62 kmDouglas County 73 kmEl Dorado County 77 kmPlumas County 86 kmAlpine County 93 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
3:13 pm PST on 8 November 2020 ()
Where
33 km (20 mi) west-southwest of Reno, NV · earthquakes near Reno
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sierra County, 36 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Dog Valley fault, 2 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2195 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Reno, 33 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Truckee, Verdi, Tahoe Vista, Kings Beach, Mogul, Incline Village.

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

  1. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 33 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 17 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 9 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 34 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 21 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 39.4093, -120.1600. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sierra County, CA 36 km (23 mi) WNW earthquakes near Sierra County
Carson City, NV 46 km (28 mi) SE earthquakes near Carson City
Nevada County, CA 54 km (34 mi) WSW earthquakes near Nevada County
Storey County, NV 55 km (34 mi) E earthquakes near Storey County
Placer County, CA 62 km (39 mi) SW earthquakes near Placer County
Douglas County, NV 73 km (46 mi) SE earthquakes near Douglas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  2. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  3. 2.1 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  4. 3.2 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  5. 2.1 10km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  6. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  7. 1.6 8 km SE of Dollar Point, California
  8. 1.9 22km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
  9. 2.5 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  10. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  11. 2.1 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  12. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  13. 2.5 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  14. 2.9 9km SE of Dollar Point, CA
  15. 2.4 9km SE of Dollar Point, 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.