Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Cold Springs, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Cold Springs in the 24 hours to 5:52 pm PST (01:52 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 18 km (11 mi) ESE, at 10:33 pm PDT on 22 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 242 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Cold Springs
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) north of Cold Springs, NV, at 8:38 am PST on 8 December 2020 (16:38 UTC), 17 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 17 km ENE of Doyle, California
61 km (38 mi) N of Reno, NV
- When
- 8:38 am PST on 8 December 2020 ()
- Where
- 47 km (29 mi) north of Cold Springs, NV · earthquakes near Cold Springs
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 17 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Washoe County, 73 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Warm Springs Valley fault, 7 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 2165 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Cold Springs, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Cold Springs, NV. No account or email needed.
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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Cold Springs, 47 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 2016-08-04 — about 10,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 6 km NNE of Doyle, California · 13 km W of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 49 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.3 4 km S of Doyle, California · 21 km SW 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 40.0987, -119.9145. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washoe County, NV | 73 km (46 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Washoe County |
| Sierra County, CA | 78 km (48 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Plumas County, CA | 78 km (49 mi) | W | earthquakes near Plumas County |
| Storey County, NV | 81 km (50 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Lassen County, CA | 91 km (57 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Lassen County |
| Carson City, NV | 106 km (66 mi) | S | earthquakes near Carson City |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 16 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.7 23 km N of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 2.1 19 km NE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 2.0 19 km NNE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 2.2 19 km NE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 2.2 20 km NE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.7 19 km NNE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 2.5 20 km NE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 2.5 20 km NE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.8 18 km NNE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.8 18 km NE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.6 20 km NE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.7 19 km NE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.7 20 km NE of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 2.4 21 km NE of Sutcliffe, 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.