QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Carson City, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Carson City in the 24 hours to 8:53 am PST (16:53 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) south-southeast of Carson City, NV, at 1:05 pm PDT on 22 March 2023 (20:05 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: Nevada

62 km (38 mi) SSE of Reno, NV · 17 km (11 mi) SSE of Carson, NV

1:05 pm PDT, Mar 22, 2023 · · 11 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Carson City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Douglas County 13 kmCarson City 17 kmLyon County 40 kmAlpine County 45 kmStorey County 49 kmEl Dorado County 80 kmPlacer County 92 kmSierra County 97 kmNevada County 101 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
1:05 pm PDT on 22 March 2023 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) south-southeast of Carson City, NV · earthquakes near Carson City
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Douglas County, 13 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
East Carson Valley fault, 6 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 1331 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Carson City, 19 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: Johnson Lane, East Valley, Gardnerville, Minden, Indian Hills, Gardnerville Ranchos.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. 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:

  1. 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 34 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 22 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 40 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 13 km NNE of Yerington, Nevada · 48 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 10 km SE of South Lake Tahoe, California · 26 km SW 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 39.0149, -119.6607. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Douglas County, NV 13 km (8 mi) SSE earthquakes near Douglas County
Carson City, NV 17 km (11 mi) NNW earthquakes near Carson City
Lyon County, NV 40 km (25 mi) E earthquakes near Lyon County
Alpine County, CA 45 km (28 mi) SSW earthquakes near Alpine County
Storey County, NV 49 km (30 mi) NNE earthquakes near Storey County
El Dorado County, CA 80 km (50 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

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

  1. 1.8 6 km N of Yerington, Nevada
  2. 1.5 4 km SE of Topaz Ranch Estates, Nevada
  3. 2.5 18 km NNW of Walker, CA
  4. 1.7 2 km NE of Carter Springs, Nevada
  5. 1.5 3 km NE of Carter Springs, Nevada
  6. 1.5 11 km NE of Johnson Lane, Nevada
  7. 2.2 3 km WSW of Tahoe Vista, CA
  8. 2.5 4 km NNE of Dollar Point, CA
  9. 2.0 4 km WSW of Tahoe Vista, CA
  10. 2.5 4 km N of Dollar Point, CA
  11. 2.1 3 km WSW of Tahoe Vista, CA
  12. 3.2 4 km N of Dollar Point, CA
  13. 1.9 13 km NNE of Virginia City, Nevada
  14. 2.0 12 km N of Kings Beach, CA
  15. 2.0 4 km WSW 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

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