Don's Home Places California Earthquakes Reno Carson City Tahoe


1966 Truckee quake - M 5.9 - USGS 
Caused no major damage or injuries. 

Earthquake Occurrence in the Reno-Carson City Urban Corridor
Craig M. dePolo, John G. Anderson, Diane M. dePolo, Jonathan G. Price, published in the Seismological Research Letters, Volume 68, May/June, 1997, pages 401-412.

Tahoe Reno Carson City Earthquakes
Major historical earthquakes in the Reno-Carson City urban corridor.

Earthquakes of Magnitude 6 and Larger
Date Magnitude1 Location
1852? 7.3 Western Nevada
Sept. 3, 1857 6.2 Western Nevada
March 15, 1860 7.0 Pyramid Lake area
May 29, 1868 6.0 Virginia Range
Dec. 26, 1869 6.7 Virginia Range
Dec. 27, 1869 6.1 southern Virginia Range
June 3, 1887 6.3 Carson Valley
Feb. 14, 1914 6.0 Verdi area
Apr. 24, 1914 6.4 northern Virginia Range
June 25, 1933 6.0 northern Singatze Range
Dec. 29, 1948 6.0 Verdi area
Sept. 12, 1966 6.0 Truckee
Sept. 12, 1994 6.0 Double Spring Flat

Tahoe Reno Carson City Earthquakes
Principal Quaternary and suspected Quaternary faults in western Nevada. Faults are shown schematically, with balls on the downthrown side and arrows indicating strike-slip motion. The lines with dots are seismogenic lineaments.

Fault Name Acronym Earthquake
Magnitude1
Fault
Slip Rate
(m/kyr)*
Occurance
Rate
Min-Max
(Events/Year) x 10-5*
Carson City flt. ccf 6.8 0.05-0.3 8-48
Carson lineament cl 6.9 0.005-0.05 0.64-6.4
Comstock flt. zn. cfz 6.6 0.005-0.05 1-13
Double Spring Flat flt. zn. dsffz 6.7 0.01-0.1 2-20
East Tahoe flt. etf 7.0 0.1-0.5 10-51
Eastern Carson Valley flt. zn. ecvfz 6.7 0.05-0.3 4.1-61
Eastern Prison Hill flt. zn. ephfz 6.6 0.05-0.3 13-74
Eastern Reno Basin flt. zn. erbfz 6.9 0.01-0.1 1.3-13
Freds Mountain flt. zn. fmfz 7.0 0.05-0.2 5.1-21
Genoa flt. zn. gfz 7.4 0.3-2.5 6.3-63
Granite Hills flt. ghf 6.6 0.05-0.3 13-74
Hungry Valley flt. hvf 6.6 0.001-0.1 0.25-25
Incline Village flt. zn. ivfz 6.6 0.01-0.1 2.5-60
Little Valley flt. zn. lvfz 6.9 0.05-0.3 6.4-39
Mount Rose flt. zn. mrfz 7.1 0.1-0.5 8.2-41
North Tahoe flt. ntf 7.0 0.05-1 3.3-10
Northern Virginia Range flt. nvrf 6.6 0.01-0.1 2.5-25
Northwest Reno fault zone nrfz 6.6 0.01-0.08 2.5-20
Olinghouse flt. zn. ofz 7.1 0.05-0.3 4.1-25
Peavine Mountain flt. zn. pmtfz 7.0 0.05-0.3 2.1-74
Peterson Mountain flt. zn. pmfz 7.0 0.05-0.3 5.1-31
Pine Nut Valley flt. zn. pnvfz 6.8 0.01-0.1 1.6-16
Pyramid Lake flt. zn. plfz 7.3 0.4-1.1 42-56
Smith Valley flt. zn. svfz 7.2 0.12-0.81 7.9-53
Spanish Springs Peak flt. zn. sspfz 6.6 0.05-0.3 13-74
Spanish Springs Valley flt. zn. ssvfz 6.9 0.05-0.3 6.4-39
Stead flt. zn. sfz 6.6 0.01-0.1 2.5-25
Wabuska lineament wl 6.9 0.01-0.1 1.3-13
Western Lemmon Valley flt. zn. wlvfz 6.6 0.01-0.1 2.5-25
Western Warm Springs Valley flt. wwsvf 6.9 0.005-0.1 0.64-13
1. Estimated values are thought to be representative of these faults, but they are not, in general, the results of detailed studies and should not be used for engineering studies without review. Estimated magnitude values have a general uncertainty of +/-0.3 magnitude units.

Source: Earthquake Occurrence in the Reno-Carson City Urban Corridor at the Univ. of Nevada Reno


Return to N. California Earthquakes

last updated 2 july 2009