QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8ml

Earthquake near Cold Springs, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Cold Springs in the 24 hours to 3:42 pm PST (23:42 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 18 km (11 mi) ESE, at 10:33 pm PDT on 22 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 242 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Cold Springs

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) south of Cold Springs, NV, at 7:18 am PDT on 21 June 2023 (14:18 UTC), 6.8 km deep. 21 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 6 km S of Cold Springs, Nevada

13 km (8 mi) NW of Reno, NV

7:18 am PDT, Jun 21, 2023 · · 6.8 km deep · released about 480 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cold Springs Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Storey County 43 kmSierra County 48 kmCarson City 56 kmNevada County 78 kmPlumas County 84 kmDouglas County 86 kmPlacer County 90 kmLyon County 94 kmEl Dorado County 105 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
7:18 am PDT on 21 June 2023 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) south of Cold Springs, NV · earthquakes near Cold Springs
Magnitude
M 2.8 (ml)
Depth
6.8 km below the surface
Felt
21 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Storey County, 43 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Peavine Peak 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 1174 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 26 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Cold Springs, 6 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: Cold Springs 6 km, intensity III · Reno 17 km, intensity II · Sparks 21 km, intensity II · Spanish Springs 23 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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 600 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 · 20 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 13 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 36 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 22 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 43 km WSW 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 39.6242, -119.9699. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Storey County, NV 43 km (27 mi) ESE earthquakes near Storey County
Sierra County, CA 48 km (30 mi) W earthquakes near Sierra County
Carson City, NV 56 km (35 mi) SSE earthquakes near Carson City
Nevada County, CA 78 km (48 mi) WSW earthquakes near Nevada County
Plumas County, CA 84 km (52 mi) WNW earthquakes near Plumas County
Douglas County, NV 86 km (53 mi) SSE earthquakes near Douglas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 5 km W of Loyalton, California
  2. 1.5 20 km WSW of Wadsworth, Nevada
  3. 2.4 5 km W of Loyalton, CA
  4. 1.6 Northern California
  5. 2.2 3 km WSW of Tahoe Vista, CA
  6. 2.5 4 km NNE of Dollar Point, CA
  7. 2.0 4 km WSW of Tahoe Vista, CA
  8. 2.1 16 km NNW of Truckee, CA
  9. 2.5 4 km N of Dollar Point, CA
  10. 2.1 3 km WSW of Tahoe Vista, CA
  11. 3.2 4 km N of Dollar Point, CA
  12. 1.9 13 km NNE of Virginia City, Nevada
  13. 1.8 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.