QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Carson City, NV

No earthquake was likely felt in Carson City in the 24 hours to 4:22 am PST (12:22 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) SSE, at 9:41 am PST on 2 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Carson City

No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.5 explosion was recorded 6 km (4 mi) north-northeast of Carson City, NV, at 4:22 pm PDT on 20 May 2024 (23:22 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 6 km NNE of Carson City, Nevada

7 km (4 mi) NNE of Carson, NV · 39 km (24 mi) SSE of Reno, NV

4:22 pm PDT, May 20, 2024 · · 0.0 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Carson City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Carson City 7 kmStorey County 31 kmDouglas County 36 kmLyon County 51 kmAlpine County 66 kmSierra County 79 kmEl Dorado County 84 kmPlacer County 87 kmNevada County 90 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
4:22 pm PDT on 20 May 2024 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) north-northeast of Carson City, NV · earthquakes near Carson City
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Carson City, 7 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Carson City fault, 3 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 906 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Carson City, 6 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 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. 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 2020-03-21 — about 32,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 47 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 36 km E of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 44 km S of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 32 km N of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 48 km NW 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 39.2141, -119.7310. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carson City, NV 7 km (4 mi) SSW earthquakes near Carson City
Storey County, NV 31 km (19 mi) NE earthquakes near Storey County
Douglas County, NV 36 km (22 mi) SSE earthquakes near Douglas County
Lyon County, NV 51 km (32 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lyon County
Alpine County, CA 66 km (41 mi) S earthquakes near Alpine County
Sierra County, CA 79 km (49 mi) WNW earthquakes near Sierra County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  2. 1.6 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  3. 2.4 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  4. 3.3 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  5. 2.3 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  6. 1.5 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  7. 1.7 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  8. 1.6 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  9. 2.2 13 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
  10. 1.6 2 km N of Carter Springs, Nevada
  11. 1.8 3 km N of Carter Springs, Nevada
  12. 1.8 12 km SE of Sparks, Nevada
  13. 1.6 9 km SSE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
  14. 2.1 3 km SW of Tahoe Vista, CA
  15. 1.9 9 km SSE of Carter 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

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