Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Reno, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Reno in the 24 hours to 4:27 am PST (12:27 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 28 km (17 mi) east of Reno, NV, at 10:10 am PST on 2 December 2020 (18:10 UTC), 4.3 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 19 km WSW of Wadsworth, Nevada
31 km (19 mi) E of Reno, NV · 20 km (12 mi) E of Sparks, NV
- When
- 10:10 am PST on 2 December 2020 ()
- Where
- 28 km (17 mi) east of Reno, NV · earthquakes near Reno
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Storey County, 13 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Olinghouse fault, 6 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 2172 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Reno, NV
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Reno, 28 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: Fernley, Spanish Springs, Stagecoach, Sparks, Sun Valley, Silver Springs.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 12 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 44 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 27 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km N of Wadsworth, Nevada · 23 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.3 1 km NNE of Verdi, Nevada · 42 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 39.5523, -119.4878. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storey County, NV | 13 km (8 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Carson City, NV | 50 km (31 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Lyon County, NV | 64 km (40 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Douglas County, NV | 73 km (45 mi) | S | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Sierra County, CA | 89 km (55 mi) | W | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Churchill County, NV | 105 km (65 mi) | E | earthquakes near Churchill County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
38 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 14 km ESE of Fernley, Nevada
- 1.5 6 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
- 1.9 6 km NNW of Nixon, Nevada
- 1.7 10 km E of Silver Springs, Nevada
- 1.8 8 km NW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 1.5 14 km SE of Sparks, Nevada
- 2.1 8 km W of Wadsworth, Nevada
- 2.1 2 km NE of Sun Valley, Nevada
- 1.7 2 km NE of Sun Valley, Nevada
- 1.9 2 km NE of Sun Valley, Nevada
- 2.1 Nevada
- 1.8 8 km WNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 1.8 9 km WNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 1.8 9 km WNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 2.0 8 km NW of Virginia City, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.