QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3ml

Earthquake near Carson City, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Carson City in the 24 hours to 2:05 am PST (10:05 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 3.3 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) east-southeast of Carson City, NV, at 10:23 pm PDT on 18 August 2021 (05:23 UTC), 11 km deep. 374 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 9 km ESE of Carson City, Nevada

8 km (5 mi) ESE of Carson, NV · 50 km (31 mi) SSE of Reno, NV

10:23 pm PDT, Aug 18, 2021 · · 11 km deep · released about 1.3 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Carson City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Carson City 8 kmDouglas County 25 kmStorey County 37 kmLyon County 42 kmAlpine County 57 kmEl Dorado County 84 kmSierra County 89 kmPlacer County 92 kmNevada County 97 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
10:23 pm PDT on 18 August 2021 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) east-southeast of Carson City, NV · earthquakes near Carson City
Magnitude
M 3.3 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
374 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Carson City, 8 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
East Carson 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 1281 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 51 km (32 mi) from the epicentre. In Carson City, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Carson City 10 km, intensity III · Gardnerville Ranchos 27 km, intensity II · South Lake Tahoe 35 km, intensity II · Tahoe Vista 36 km, intensity II · Sunnyside-Tahoe City 43 km, intensity II · Topaz Ranch Estates 46 km, intensity II · Yerington 46 km, intensity II · Sparks 46 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 5,600× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.3 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.8× more

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 63 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 30 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 34 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 43 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 42 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 13 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada · 47 km E 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 39.1265, -119.6632. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carson City, NV 8 km (5 mi) WNW earthquakes near Carson City
Douglas County, NV 25 km (16 mi) S earthquakes near Douglas County
Storey County, NV 37 km (23 mi) NNE earthquakes near Storey County
Lyon County, NV 42 km (26 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lyon County
Alpine County, CA 57 km (36 mi) SSW earthquakes near Alpine County
El Dorado County, CA 84 km (52 mi) WSW earthquakes near El Dorado County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 3km ENE of Dollar Point, CA
  2. 2.3 3km ENE of Dollar Point, CA
  3. 1.6 3km ENE of Dollar Point, CA
  4. 1.5 15 km WNW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  5. 1.5 5 km ENE of Indian Hills, Nevada
  6. 1.6 3km ENE of Dollar Point, CA
  7. 1.6 7km ESE of Mesa Vista, CA
  8. 2.4 Nevada
  9. 2.1 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  10. 2.8 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  11. 2.8 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  12. 1.6 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  13. 2.0 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  14. 1.5 6 km SE of Floriston, California
  15. 1.6 6 km SE 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.