Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Reno, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Reno in the 24 hours to 2:02 pm PST (22:02 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 7 km (4 mi) SW, at 11:07 pm PDT on 10 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Reno
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) south-southeast of Reno, NV, at 7:30 am PDT on 16 July 2023 (14:30 UTC), 7.0 km deep.
USGS: Nevada
21 km (13 mi) SSE of Reno, NV · 20 km (12 mi) S of Sparks, NV
- When
- 7:30 am PDT on 16 July 2023 ()
- Where
- 17 km (11 mi) south-southeast of Reno, NV · earthquakes near Reno
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Storey County, 17 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mount Rose fault, 10 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 1215 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Reno, NV
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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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Reno, 17 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: Sparks, Dayton, Mogul, Sun Valley, Carson City, Golden Valley.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- 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 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 34 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 42 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 14 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 36 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 47 km W 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 39.3949, -119.7170. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storey County, NV | 17 km (11 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Carson City, NV | 27 km (17 mi) | S | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Douglas County, NV | 55 km (34 mi) | S | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Lyon County, NV | 61 km (38 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Sierra County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Alpine County, CA | 86 km (54 mi) | S | earthquakes near Alpine County |
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.
- 2.0 9 km E of Sparks, Nevada
- 1.6 15 km NNW of Stagecoach, Nevada
- 2.2 6 km NNW of Truckee, CA
- 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
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.