Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Truckee, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Truckee in the 24 hours to 3:06 am PST (11:06 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 49 km (31 mi) S, at 3:00 am PDT on 2 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 532 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Truckee
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 35 km (22 mi) northwest of Truckee, CA, at 1:31 am PST on 11 December 2020 (09:31 UTC), 5.5 km deep.
USGS: 5 km SSW of Sattley, California
51 km (32 mi) W of Reno, NV
- When
- 1:31 am PST on 11 December 2020 ()
- Where
- 35 km (22 mi) northwest of Truckee, CA · earthquakes near Truckee
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Sierra County, 7 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mohawk Valley fault, 3 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 2162 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Truckee, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Truckee, CA. 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Truckee, 35 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: Portola.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 31 km E of this epicentre
- 5.9 West of Downieville, California · 48 km W of this epicentre
- 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 25 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 27 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 16 km SSE 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 39.5672, -120.4429. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra County, CA | 7 km (4 mi) | W | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Nevada County, CA | 41 km (26 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Nevada County |
| Plumas County, CA | 57 km (36 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Plumas County |
| Placer County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Placer County |
| Carson City, NV | 75 km (47 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Storey County, NV | 80 km (50 mi) | E | 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.
- 2.2 19km NW of Truckee, CA
- 3.0 19km NW of Truckee, CA
- 4.7 19km NW of Truckee, CA
- 1.7 15 km SSE of Sierraville, California
- 2.7 20km NW of Truckee, CA
- 3.1 19km NW of Truckee, CA
- 1.5 15 km SSE of Sierraville, California
- 2.4 16km SW of Loyalton, CA
- 2.3 11km N of Truckee, CA
- 1.9 22km SSW of Whitehawk, CA
- 1.5 6 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
- 2.6 4km W of Tahoe Vista, CA
- 2.0 3km WSW of Whitehawk, CA
- 1.5 8 km NE of Truckee, California
- 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
- 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.