Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8ml
Earthquake near Cold Springs, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Cold Springs in the 24 hours to 5:40 pm PST (01:40 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 18 km (11 mi) ESE, at 10:33 pm PDT on 22 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 242 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Cold Springs
This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) northeast of Cold Springs, NV, at 5:59 pm PDT on 2 April 2025 (00:59 UTC), 9.7 km deep. 7 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 7 km NE of Cold Springs, Nevada
20 km (13 mi) NNW of Reno, NV
- When
- 5:59 pm PDT on 2 April 2025 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) northeast of Cold Springs, NV · earthquakes near Cold Springs
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 9.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- 7 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Storey County, 46 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Peavine Peak 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 522 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Cold Springs, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Cold 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 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 25 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Cold Springs, 8 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: Cold Springs 8 km, intensity III · Spanish Springs 19 km, intensity II · Reno 23 km, intensity II · Sparks 25 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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 600 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 27 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 24 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 47 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.6 6 km NNE of Doyle, California · 42 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 25 km W 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 39.7247, -119.9096. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storey County, NV | 46 km (28 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Sierra County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Carson City, NV | 65 km (40 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Plumas County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Plumas County |
| Nevada County, CA | 88 km (55 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Nevada County |
| Douglas County, NV | 95 km (59 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Douglas 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.
- 1.5 16 km NW of Stagecoach, Nevada
- 1.5 13 km NNW of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 2.5 18 km S of Loyalton, CA
- 1.7 8 km N of Sutcliffe, Nevada
- 2.2 15 km NNW of Incline Village-Crystal Bay, NV
- 2.2 10 km NNW of Truckee, CA
- 1.5 5 km ESE of Sparks, Nevada
- 1.5 13 km WSW of Nixon, Nevada
- 1.5 9 km NNE of Truckee, CA
- 1.5 19 km SE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 1.8 12 km E of Floriston, California
- 2.1 12 km E of Floriston, California
- 1.5 20 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 1.6 6 km N of Incline Village, Nevada
- 2.0 6 km N of Incline Village, 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.