Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Reno, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Reno in the 24 hours to 12:55 pm PST (20:55 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 2.1 earthquake was recorded 38 km (24 mi) east-northeast of Reno, NV, at 7:11 am PDT on 29 March 2021 (14:11 UTC), 13 km deep.
USGS: 8 km W of Wadsworth, Nevada
40 km (25 mi) ENE of Reno, NV · 29 km (18 mi) ENE of Sparks, NV
- When
- 7:11 am PDT on 29 March 2021 ()
- Where
- 38 km (24 mi) east-northeast of Reno, NV · earthquakes near Reno
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Storey County, 24 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Olinghouse fault, under 1 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 2054 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Reno, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Reno, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Reno, 38 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, Silver Springs, Stagecoach.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
- 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 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 12 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 38 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km N of Wadsworth, Nevada · 11 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.1 12 km SSE of Reno, Nevada · 41 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.1 1 km NW of Mogul, Nevada · 48 km WSW 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 39.6276, -119.3898. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storey County, NV | 24 km (15 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Carson City, NV | 61 km (38 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Lyon County, NV | 69 km (43 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Douglas County, NV | 83 km (51 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Churchill County, NV | 97 km (60 mi) | E | earthquakes near Churchill County |
| Sierra County, CA | 97 km (60 mi) | W | earthquakes near Sierra County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 12 km WNW of Wadsworth, Nevada
- 1.5 9 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.5 15 km WNW of Stagecoach, Nevada
- 1.8 11 km SW of Nixon, Nevada
- 1.8 14 km E of Fernley, Nevada
- 1.6 14 km E of Fernley, Nevada
- 2.4 Nevada
- 1.5 14 km E of Fernley, Nevada
- 1.9 5 km NW of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 1.9 13 km ESE of Fernley, Nevada
- 1.5 9 km ESE of Sparks, Nevada
- 1.8 24 km NNW of Fallon, Nevada
- 2.2 8 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 2.6 14 km ESE of Fernley, Nevada
- 1.5 10 km NNW of Stagecoach, 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.