QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Sparks, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Sparks in the 24 hours to 9:33 am PST (17:33 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 11 km (7 mi) WSW, at 11:07 pm PDT on 10 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Sparks

No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 2.0 explosion was recorded 11 km (7 mi) east of Sparks, NV, at 3:51 pm PDT on 22 April 2024 (22:51 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 10 km E of Sparks, Nevada

19 km (12 mi) E of Reno, NV · 9 km (6 mi) SE of Sparks, NV

3:51 pm PDT, Apr 22, 2024 · · 16 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Sparks Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Storey County 13 kmCarson City 43 kmLyon County 67 kmDouglas County 69 kmSierra County 77 kmNevada County 102 kmAlpine County 102 kmPlacer County 107 kmEl Dorado County 114 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
3:51 pm PDT on 22 April 2024 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) east of Sparks, NV · earthquakes near Sparks
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Storey County, 13 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Northern Virginia Range fault, 2 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 934 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 1 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Sparks, 11 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: Sun Valley, Spanish Springs, Reno, Golden Valley, Lemmon Valley, Mogul.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

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

  1. 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 24 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 47 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 15 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 39 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 7 km N of Wadsworth, Nevada · 34 km NE 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 39.5268, -119.6274. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Storey County, NV 13 km (8 mi) SE earthquakes near Storey County
Carson City, NV 43 km (27 mi) SSW earthquakes near Carson City
Lyon County, NV 67 km (42 mi) SSE earthquakes near Lyon County
Douglas County, NV 69 km (43 mi) S earthquakes near Douglas County
Sierra County, CA 77 km (48 mi) W earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 102 km (63 mi) WSW earthquakes near Nevada County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

39 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 3.3 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  2. 2.3 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  3. 1.5 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  4. 1.7 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  5. 2.8 7 km NE of Cold Springs, Nevada
  6. 1.6 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  7. 2.2 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  8. 1.8 12 km SE of Sparks, Nevada
  9. 1.6 9 km SSE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  10. 1.6 19 km SE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  11. 2.0 9 km E of Sparks, Nevada
  12. 1.6 9 km SE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  13. 1.6 10 km SE of Silver Springs, Nevada
  14. 1.9 15 km of Incline Village-Crystal Bay, NV
  15. 2.5 4 km E of Truckee, 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

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