Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Reno, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Reno in the 24 hours to 10:31 am PST (18:31 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 7 km (4 mi) SW, at 11:07 pm PDT on 10 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Reno
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 36 km (22 mi) east-northeast of Reno, NV, at 9:43 am PDT on 27 October 2026 (16:43 UTC), 9.5 km deep.
USGS: 11 km W of Wadsworth, Nevada
38 km (24 mi) ENE of Reno, NV · 26 km (16 mi) ENE of Sparks, NV
- When
- 9:43 am PDT on 27 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 36 km (22 mi) east-northeast of Reno, NV · earthquakes near Reno
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 9.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Storey County, 25 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Olinghouse 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 16 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Reno, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Reno, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Reno, 36 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Fernley, Spanish Springs.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 810,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 72× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 5.7 on 2026-04-14 — about 760,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 Near Fernley, Nevada · 16 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Reno, Nevada · 36 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km N of Wadsworth, Nevada · 12 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.3 1 km NNE of Verdi, Nevada · 50 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.1 12 km SSE of Reno, Nevada · 40 km SW 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 39.6490, -119.4223. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storey County, NV | 25 km (16 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Storey County |
| Carson City, NV | 62 km (38 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Lyon County, NV | 72 km (45 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Douglas County, NV | 84 km (52 mi) | S | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Sierra County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | W | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Churchill County, NV | 100 km (62 mi) | E | earthquakes near Churchill 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.
- 2.0 18 km SE of Silver Springs, Nevada
- 2.3 18 km SE of Silver Springs, Nevada
- 1.7 17 km SE of Silver Springs, Nevada
- 1.8 19 km ESE of Silver Springs, Nevada
- 1.8 18 km ESE of Silver 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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| location | 11 km WNW of Wadsworth, Nevada | 11 km W of Wadsworth, Nevada | |
| longitude | -119.41 | -119.42 | |
| latitude | 39.67 | 39.65 | |
| depth | 15.19 | 9.52 | |
| magnitude | 1.54 | 1.76 |
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.