QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Dayton, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Dayton in the 24 hours to 3:29 pm PST (23:29 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 49 km (30 mi) E, at 6:36 pm PDT on 4 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Dayton

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) south of Dayton, NV, at 6:04 am PDT on 22 July 2023 (13:04 UTC), 5.2 km deep.

USGS: 7 km S of Dayton, Nevada

12 km (8 mi) E of Carson, NV · 47 km (29 mi) SSE of Reno, NV

6:04 am PDT, Jul 22, 2023 · · 5.2 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Dayton Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Carson City 12 kmDouglas County 29 kmStorey County 31 kmLyon County 39 kmAlpine County 63 kmEl Dorado County 91 kmSierra County 91 kmPlacer County 97 kmNevada County 101 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
6:04 am PDT on 22 July 2023 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) south of Dayton, NV · earthquakes near Dayton
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
5.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Carson City, 12 km W
Nearest mapped fault
East Carson Valley 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 1209 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Dayton, 8 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: Carson City 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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 5,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 45 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 25 km E of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 39 km S of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 40 km ESE 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 39.1676, -119.6073. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carson City, NV 12 km (8 mi) W earthquakes near Carson City
Douglas County, NV 29 km (18 mi) S earthquakes near Douglas County
Storey County, NV 31 km (19 mi) NNE earthquakes near Storey County
Lyon County, NV 39 km (24 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lyon County
Alpine County, CA 63 km (39 mi) SSW earthquakes near Alpine County
El Dorado County, CA 91 km (56 mi) WSW earthquakes near El Dorado 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.

  1. 2.5 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  2. 2.2 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
  3. 1.6 3 km NE of Dollar Point, CA
  4. 1.7 8 km ENE of Floriston, California
  5. 1.6 11 km E of Floriston, California
  6. 1.7 12 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  7. 1.9 7 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  8. 1.6 2 km NNE of Reno, Nevada
  9. 1.7 2 km NNE of Reno, Nevada
  10. 1.8 2 km NNE of Reno, Nevada
  11. 1.6 2 km NNE of Reno, Nevada
  12. 1.6 2 km NNE of Reno, Nevada
  13. 1.9 2 km NNE of Reno, Nevada
  14. 1.9 2 km NNE of Reno, Nevada
  15. 2.0 2 km NNE of Reno, 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.