QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Reno, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Reno in the 24 hours to 1:51 pm PST (21:51 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

7:30 am PDT, Jul 16, 2023 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Reno Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Storey County 17 kmCarson City 27 kmDouglas County 55 kmLyon County 61 kmSierra County 72 kmAlpine County 86 kmNevada County 91 kmPlacer County 94 kmEl Dorado County 98 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
7:30 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

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.

  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 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 34 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 42 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 14 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 36 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 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

PlaceDistanceDirection 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.

  1. 2.0 9 km E of Sparks, Nevada
  2. 1.6 15 km NNW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  3. 2.2 6 km NNW of Truckee, CA
  4. 1.6 17 km SW of Nixon, Nevada
  5. 1.6 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  6. 1.5 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  7. 2.3 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  8. 3.1 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  9. 1.5 Nevada
  10. 1.5 Nevada
  11. 1.7 7 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  12. 2.0 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  13. 3.6 Nevada
  14. 1.8 6 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  15. 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

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