Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8ml
Earthquake near Sun Valley, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Sun Valley in the 24 hours to 7:47 am PST (15:47 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 15 km (9 mi) SSW, at 11:07 pm PDT on 10 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Sun Valley
This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded in Sun Valley, NV, at 10:33 pm PDT on 22 September 2026 (05:33 UTC), 5.1 km deep. 242 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 1 km WNW of Sun Valley, Nevada
8 km (5 mi) NE of Reno, NV · 7 km (4 mi) WNW of Sparks, NV
- When
- 10:33 pm PDT on 22 September 2026 ()
- Where
- in Sun Valley, NV · earthquakes near Sun Valley
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- 242 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Storey County, 29 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Spanish Springs Valley fault, 9 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 50 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Sun Valley, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Sun Valley, 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 26 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Sparks 8 km, intensity III · Reno 8 km, intensity III · Spanish Springs 9 km, intensity III · Cold Springs 18 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 430 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 35,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 25,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.2× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.8 about 430 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 660 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 39 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 11 km S of this epicentre
- 6.0 6 km WNW of Verdi, California · 26 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.9 9 km NW of Truckee, California · 47 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 37 km WNW 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 39.6017, -119.7884. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storey County, NV | 29 km (18 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Carson City, NV | 50 km (31 mi) | S | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Sierra County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | W | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Douglas County, NV | 79 km (49 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Lyon County, NV | 82 km (51 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Nevada County, CA | 91 km (56 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Nevada County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
10 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 10 km NNE of Truckee, CA
- 1.1 5 km NW of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 1.8 11 km W of Wadsworth, Nevada
- 1.6 19 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 1.9 4 km NNE of Dollar Point, CA
- 2.3 6 km ESE of Mogul, Nevada
- 1.6 8 km WSW of Stagecoach, Nevada
- 1.5 20 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 1.6 2 km NNW of Sun Valley, Nevada
- 1.9 1 km WNW of Sun Valley, 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.