Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Spanish Springs, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Spanish Springs in the 24 hours to 6:07 pm PST (02:07 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 8 km (5 mi) WSW, at 7:27 pm PDT on 24 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Spanish Springs
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 49 km (30 mi) north of Spanish Springs, NV, at 8:52 am PDT on 12 March 2024 (15:52 UTC), 15 km deep.
USGS: 16 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
62 km (38 mi) NNE of Reno, NV · 57 km (36 mi) N of Sparks, NV
- When
- 8:52 am PDT on 12 March 2024 ()
- Where
- 49 km (30 mi) north of Spanish Springs, NV · earthquakes near Spanish Springs
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Washoe County, 72 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Terraced Hills fault, 13 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 974 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Spanish Springs, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Spanish Springs, 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 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 Spanish Springs, 49 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.
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 2016-08-04 — about 30,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 6 km NNE of Doyle, California · 33 km W of this epicentre
- 5.3 4 km S of Doyle, California · 39 km WSW 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 40.0882, -119.6752. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washoe County, NV | 72 km (44 mi) | N | earthquakes near Washoe County |
| Storey County, NV | 73 km (46 mi) | S | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Sierra County, CA | 92 km (57 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Plumas County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | W | earthquakes near Plumas County |
| Carson City, NV | 104 km (65 mi) | S | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Lassen County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Lassen County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 12 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.7 13 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.6 13 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.6 11 km SSW of Nixon, Nevada
- 1.5 10 km WNW of Nixon, Nevada
- 2.1 23 km E of Herlong, California
- 1.5 23 km ENE of Herlong, California
- 1.9 20 km E of Herlong, California
- 1.6 16 km WSW of Empire, Nevada
- 1.5 4 km ENE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 1.5 13 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 2.1 17 km SE of Honey Lake, CA
- 1.7 8 km N of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 1.5 13 km WSW of Nixon, Nevada
- 1.5 5 km N 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.