Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Sun Valley, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Sun Valley in the 24 hours to 9:14 am PST (17:14 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) north-northwest of Sun Valley, NV, at 7:27 pm PDT on 24 September 2026 (02:27 UTC), 4.6 km deep.
USGS: 2 km NNW of Sun Valley, Nevada
9 km (6 mi) NNE of Reno, NV · 8 km (5 mi) NW of Sparks, NV
- When
- 7:27 pm PDT on 24 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) north-northwest of Sun Valley, NV · earthquakes near Sun Valley
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Storey County, 30 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Spanish Springs Valley fault, 8 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 48 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 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 Sun Valley, 3 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: Spanish Springs 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 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 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 4.7 on 2021-05-07 — about 45,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 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 · 13 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 39.6204, -119.7905. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storey County, NV | 30 km (19 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Carson City, NV | 52 km (32 mi) | S | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Sierra County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | W | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Douglas County, NV | 81 km (50 mi) | S | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Lyon County, NV | 84 km (52 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Nevada County, CA | 92 km (57 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Nevada County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
5 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 11 km W of Wadsworth, Nevada
- 1.6 19 km ESE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
- 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
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.