QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

5 km SSW of Sattley, California

· 5.5 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sierra County 7 kmNevada County 41 kmPlumas County 57 kmPlacer County 61 kmCarson City 75 kmStorey County 80 kmYuba County 84 kmEl Dorado County 87 kmButte County 100 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
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
5.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sierra County, 7 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2116 days ago

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

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.

Where

Epicentre 39.5672, -120.4429. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sierra County, CA 7 km (4 mi) E of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 41 km (26 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Plumas County, CA 57 km (36 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Placer County, CA 61 km (38 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Placer County
Carson City, NV 75 km (47 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 80 km (50 mi) W of here earthquakes near Storey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 19km NW of Truckee, CA
  2. 3.0 19km NW of Truckee, CA
  3. 4.7 19km NW of Truckee, CA
  4. 1.7 15 km SSE of Sierraville, California
  5. 2.7 20km NW of Truckee, CA
  6. 3.1 19km NW of Truckee, CA
  7. 1.5 15 km SSE of Sierraville, California
  8. 2.4 16km SW of Loyalton, CA
  9. 2.3 11km N of Truckee, CA
  10. 1.9 22km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
  11. 1.5 6 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
  12. 2.6 4km W of Tahoe Vista, CA
  13. 2.0 3km WSW of Whitehawk, CA
  14. 1.5 8 km NE of Truckee, California
  15. 1.6 16 km NNW of Truckee, 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

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