Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Sparks, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Sparks in the 24 hours to 2:43 pm PST (22:43 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 11 km (7 mi) WSW, at 11:07 pm PDT on 10 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Sparks
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) southeast of Sparks, NV, at 1:42 pm PDT on 31 March 2021 (20:42 UTC), 7.6 km deep.
USGS: 14 km SE of Sparks, Nevada
23 km (14 mi) ESE of Reno, NV · 16 km (10 mi) SE of Sparks, NV
- When
- 1:42 pm PDT on 31 March 2021 ()
- Where
- 15 km (9 mi) southeast of Sparks, NV · earthquakes near Sparks
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Storey County, 8 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Northern Virginia Range fault, 4 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 2052 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Sparks, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Sparks, 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Sparks, 15 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: Reno, Sun Valley, Stagecoach, Spanish Springs, Dayton, Golden Valley.
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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.5 on 2020-03-21 — about 32,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 24 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 40 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 17 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 41 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km N of Wadsworth, Nevada · 38 km NE 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 39.4579, -119.6138. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storey County, NV | 8 km (5 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Carson City, NV | 36 km (22 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Lyon County, NV | 60 km (37 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Douglas County, NV | 61 km (38 mi) | S | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Sierra County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | W | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Alpine County, CA | 94 km (59 mi) | S | earthquakes near Alpine County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
6 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 3 km NNW of Reno, Nevada
- 1.5 14 km ESE of Fernley, Nevada
- 1.5 6 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada
- 1.7 10 km E of Silver Springs, Nevada
- 1.8 8 km NW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 2.6 4km W of Tahoe Vista, CA
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.