QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 2.1ml

Earthquake near Sun Valley, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Sun Valley in the 24 hours to 12:04 am PST (08:04 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 15 km (9 mi) SSW, at 11:07 pm PDT on 10 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Sun Valley

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) northeast of Sun Valley, NV, at 6:36 pm PDT on 27 March 2021 (01:36 UTC), 10 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 2 km NE of Sun Valley, Nevada

11 km (7 mi) NE of Reno, NV · 5 km (3 mi) NW of Sparks, NV

6:36 pm PDT, Mar 27, 2021 · · 10 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Sun Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Storey County 27 kmCarson City 51 kmSierra County 66 kmDouglas County 79 kmLyon County 81 kmNevada County 94 kmPlumas County 101 kmPlacer County 104 kmAlpine County 110 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
6:36 pm PDT on 27 March 2021 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) northeast of Sun Valley, NV · earthquakes near Sun Valley
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Storey County, 27 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Spanish 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 2056 days ago

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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Sun Valley, 3 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.

Likely felt in: Spanish Springs 6 km, intensity II · Sparks 8 km, intensity II · Reno 11 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 36 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 13 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 29 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 50 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 40 km WNW 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 39.6112, -119.7497. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Storey County, NV 27 km (17 mi) SE earthquakes near Storey County
Carson City, NV 51 km (32 mi) S earthquakes near Carson City
Sierra County, CA 66 km (41 mi) W earthquakes near Sierra County
Douglas County, NV 79 km (49 mi) S earthquakes near Douglas County
Lyon County, NV 81 km (50 mi) SE earthquakes near Lyon County
Nevada County, CA 94 km (59 mi) WSW earthquakes near Nevada County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 4 km SE of Cold Springs, Nevada
  2. 2.4 Nevada
  3. 2.1 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  4. 2.8 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  5. 1.9 5 km NW of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  6. 2.8 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  7. 1.6 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  8. 2.0 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  9. 1.5 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  10. 1.6 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  11. 1.5 9 km ESE of Sparks, Nevada
  12. 2.2 8 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
  13. 1.5 10 km NNW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  14. 2.2 10km N of Truckee, CA
  15. 1.8 11 km NNW 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.