QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Carson City, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Carson City in the 24 hours to 1:27 pm PST (21:27 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) SSE, at 9:41 am PST on 2 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Carson City

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) west of Carson City, NV, at 10:37 am PDT on 28 May 2021 (17:37 UTC), 9.4 km deep.

USGS: 8 km WNW of Glenbrook, Nevada

50 km (31 mi) SSW of Reno, NV · 24 km (15 mi) W of Carson, NV

10:37 am PDT, May 28, 2021 · · 9.4 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Carson City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Carson City 24 kmDouglas County 44 kmStorey County 56 kmEl Dorado County 58 kmAlpine County 59 kmPlacer County 60 kmSierra County 66 kmNevada County 67 kmLyon County 73 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
10:37 am PDT on 28 May 2021 ()
Where
23 km (14 mi) west of Carson City, NV · earthquakes near Carson City
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
9.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Carson City, 24 km E
Nearest mapped fault
North Tahoe fault, 2 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 1995 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Carson City, 23 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: Dollar Point, Tahoma, Sunnyside-Tahoe City, Kings Beach, Tahoe Vista, Incline Village.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 4.7 on 2021-05-07 — about 38,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 47 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 46 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 48 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 36 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 47 km NW 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 39.1235, -120.0286. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carson City, NV 24 km (15 mi) E earthquakes near Carson City
Douglas County, NV 44 km (27 mi) ESE earthquakes near Douglas County
Storey County, NV 56 km (35 mi) NE earthquakes near Storey County
El Dorado County, CA 58 km (36 mi) SW earthquakes near El Dorado County
Alpine County, CA 59 km (37 mi) SSE earthquakes near Alpine County
Placer County, CA 60 km (37 mi) W earthquakes near Placer County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 5 km SSE of Gardnerville Ranchos, Nevada
  2. 1.9 7 km ENE of Floriston, California
  3. 1.5 7 km ENE of Floriston, California
  4. 1.9 4km E of Truckee, CA
  5. 2.7 4km E of Truckee, CA
  6. 1.5 4 km NNE of Carter Springs, Nevada
  7. 1.7 3 km N of Carter Springs, Nevada
  8. 1.9 4 km NNW of Carter Springs, Nevada
  9. 1.7 5 km S of Fish Springs, Nevada
  10. 2.4 3km NE of Dollar Point, CA
  11. 2.2 4km E of Truckee, CA
  12. 1.8 4km SW of Tahoe Vista, CA
  13. 2.0 4 km N of Carter Springs, Nevada
  14. 1.6 9 km E of Carson City, Nevada
  15. 1.7 7 km ENE of Floriston, 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

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