Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Reno, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Reno in the 24 hours to 5:23 am PST (13:23 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 45 km (28 mi) west-northwest of Reno, NV, at 2:13 pm PDT on 29 September 2023 (21:13 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 5 km W of Loyalton, California
41 km (25 mi) WNW of Reno, NV
- When
- 2:13 pm PDT on 29 September 2023 ()
- Where
- 45 km (28 mi) west-northwest of Reno, NV · earthquakes near Reno
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Sierra County, 21 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mohawk Valley fault, 11 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 1138 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Reno, 45 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Portola, Cold Springs.
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 4.7 on 2021-05-07 — about 53,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 47 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 23 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 30 km S of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 10 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.3 11 km N of Soda Springs, California · 28 km SSW 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 39.6670, -120.3032. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra County, CA | 21 km (13 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Plumas County, CA | 57 km (36 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Plumas County |
| Nevada County, CA | 57 km (36 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Nevada County |
| Storey County, NV | 71 km (44 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Carson City, NV | 74 km (46 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Placer County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Placer County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 6 km NNE of Verdi, California
- 2.2 5 km NNE of Verdi, California
- 1.6 5 km N of Verdi, Nevada
- 2.2 5 km SSE of Floriston, California
- 1.7 2 km NNE of Portola, California
- 2.2 11 km NNE of Kings Beach, CA
- 2.1 20 km NNW of Truckee, CA
- 2.2 11 km NNE of Tahoe Vista, CA
- 2.5 11 km NNE of Tahoe Vista, CA
- 1.6 5 km SSE of Floriston, California
- 2.4 16 km SW of Loyalton, CA
- 1.5 6 km SE of Beckwourth, California
- 2.3 18 km NNW of Truckee, CA
- 2.9 0 km NNE of Whitehawk, CA
- 2.3 4 km S of Cromberg, 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
- 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.