Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9md
52km WNW of Petrolia, CA
Yes. A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 52km WNW of Petrolia, CA, at 7:49 am PDT on 25 March 2018 (14:49 UTC), 16 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (md)
- Depth
- 16 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Humboldt County, 85 km ENE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3152 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ferndale, CA
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 18 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 840,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 53× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 18 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 5.1 on 2017-07-29 — about 70,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 29 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 32 km SW of Ferndale, California · 28 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.5 30 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 26 km E of this epicentre
- 6.5 The 2010 Eureka, California Earthquake · 27 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.0 53 km SW of Ferndale, California · 27 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.0 near the coast of Northern California · 32 km NNE 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 40.4503, -124.8765. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 81km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.0 28km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.2 15km WNW of Petrolia, CA
- 1.9 32km WNW of Petrolia, CA
- 1.8 13km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.6 59km W of Ferndale, CA
- 2.5 69km W of Petrolia, CA
- 4.5 65km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.7 96km W of Petrolia, CA
- 1.7 11km WSW of Ferndale, CA
- 3.0 84km W of Petrolia, CA
- 1.7 18km WSW of Petrolia, CA
- 2.3 39km WNW of Petrolia, CA
- 1.7 9km WSW of Petrolia, CA
- 2.6 24km W of Petrolia, CA
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.