Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.6mw
Earthquake near Reno, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Reno in the 24 hours to 7:11 am PST (15:11 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 3.6 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) east-northeast of Reno, NV, at 12:43 am PDT on 19 October 2023 (07:43 UTC), 11 km deep. 259 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: Nevada
20 km (13 mi) ENE of Reno, NV · 9 km (5 mi) NE of Sparks, NV
- When
- 12:43 am PDT on 19 October 2023 ()
- Where
- 18 km (11 mi) east-northeast of Reno, NV · earthquakes near Reno
- Magnitude
- M 3.6 (mw)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 259 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Storey County, 22 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Spanish Springs 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 1052 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Reno, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Reno, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 69 km (43 mi) from the epicentre. In Reno, 18 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Spanish Springs 7 km, intensity III · Sparks 14 km, intensity III · Reno 18 km, intensity III · Cold Springs 30 km, intensity II · Fernley 33 km, intensity II · Silver Springs 42 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 3.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 45,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.8 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7.9× more
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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 27 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 20 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 39 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 50 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km N of Wadsworth, Nevada · 30 km ENE 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 39.6210, -119.6343. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storey County, NV | 22 km (14 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Carson City, NV | 53 km (33 mi) | S | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Sierra County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | W | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Lyon County, NV | 76 km (48 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Douglas County, NV | 80 km (49 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
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 1.7 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 1.6 12 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 1.9 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 3.5 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 1.5 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 1.6 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 1.8 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 2.4 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 2.1 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 2.5 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 2.2 11 km NNW of Virginia City, Nevada
- 1.7 8 km ENE of Floriston, California
- 2.5 14 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.6 11 km E of Floriston, California
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.