Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3ml
Nevada, United States
Yes. A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded in Nevada, United States, 20 km (13 mi) ENE of Reno, NV, at 7:45 pm PDT on 15 July 2023 (02:45 UTC), 5.0 km deep. 16 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
20 km (13 mi) ENE of Reno, NV · 10 km (6 mi) NE of Sparks, NV
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- 16 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Storey County, 25 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Spanish Springs Valley fault, 8 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 1141 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Spanish Springs, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Spanish Springs, NV. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Spanish Springs 5 km, intensity III · Sparks 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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.
Where
Epicentre 39.6460, -119.6479. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storey County, NV | 25 km (16 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Carson City, NV | 55 km (34 mi) | S | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Sierra County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | W | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Lyon County, NV | 79 km (49 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Douglas County, NV | 82 km (51 mi) | S | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Nevada County, CA | 104 km (65 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Nevada 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.
- 2.0 9 km E of Sparks, Nevada
- 1.6 15 km NNW of Stagecoach, Nevada
- 1.6 17 km SW of Nixon, Nevada
- 1.6 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 1.5 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 2.3 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 3.1 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 1.5 Nevada
- 1.5 Nevada
- 1.7 7 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 2.0 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 3.6 Nevada
- 1.8 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 2.4 7 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 1.6 7 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
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
- 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.