Earthquake near Cold Springs, NV

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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Cold Springs, 7 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.

Likely felt in: Cold Springs 7 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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 4.7 on 2021-05-07 — about 53,000 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. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 19 km SE of this epicentre Feb 18, 1914
2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 12 km SW of this epicentre Dec 29, 1948
3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 35 km SW of this epicentre Sep 12, 1966
4. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 23 km WNW of this epicentre Apr 1, 1959
5. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 42 km WSW of this epicentre Mar 30, 1943

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 39.6137, -119.9712. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.5 Nevada 14:30 UTC
2. 2.8 10 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada 13:36 UTC
3. 2.4 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada 13:19 UTC
4. 1.5 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada 13:06 UTC
5. 2.3 Nevada, United States 02:45 UTC
6. 2.1 9 km NNE of Truckee, CA 17:19 UTC
7. 1.6 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 23:21 UTC
8. 1.9 6 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada 05:38 UTC
9. 2.1 7 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada 05:38 UTC
10. 1.9 Nevada 15:02 UTC
11. 1.7 5 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 11:26 UTC
12. 2.2 5 km E of Spanish Springs, Nevada 11:23 UTC
13. 1.7 4 km E of Spanish Springs, Nevada 08:12 UTC
14. 2.1 5 km E of Spanish Springs, Nevada 05:36 UTC
15. 1.6 5 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada 02:31 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 22:26 UTC. 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.