QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

Earthquake near Willow Creek, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Willow Creek in the 24 hours to 2:26 am PST (10:26 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 175 km (109 mi) WSW, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Willow Creek

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 34 km (21 mi) northeast of Willow Creek, CA, at 11:27 pm PDT on 7 October 2019 (06:27 UTC), 40 km deep.

USGS: 28km SSE of Somes Bar, CA

11:27 pm PDT, Oct 7, 2019 · · 40 km deep · released about 320 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Willow Creek Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Trinity County 59 kmHumboldt County 70 kmSiskiyou County 83 kmDel Norte County 86 kmShasta County 117 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
11:27 pm PDT on 7 October 2019 ()
Where
34 km (21 mi) northeast of Willow Creek, CA · earthquakes near Willow Creek
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
40 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Trinity County, 59 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2590 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Willow Creek, 34 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 320 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 48,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 34,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 320 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.6 26 km NNW of Willow Creek, California · 38 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 3 km NNW of Burnt Ranch, California · 37 km SSW 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 41.1503, -123.3377. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Trinity County, CA 59 km (37 mi) SSE earthquakes near Trinity County
Humboldt County, CA 70 km (43 mi) SW earthquakes near Humboldt County
Siskiyou County, CA 83 km (52 mi) NE earthquakes near Siskiyou County
Del Norte County, CA 86 km (53 mi) NW earthquakes near Del Norte County
Shasta County, CA 117 km (73 mi) ESE earthquakes near Shasta County
Tehama County, CA 147 km (91 mi) SE earthquakes near Tehama County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.7 6km S of Weitchpec, CA
  2. 2.2 22km SSE of Willow Creek, CA
  3. 2.3 22km SSE of Willow Creek, CA
  4. 2.2 22km SSE of Willow Creek, CA
  5. 3.5 16km NE of Willow Creek, CA
  6. 3.0 19km SE of Willow Creek, CA
  7. 2.4 11km WSW of Willow Creek, CA
  8. 2.6 5km SW of Somes Bar, CA
  9. 2.2 24km NW of Hayfork, CA
  10. 2.8 7km W of Weitchpec, CA
  11. 2.9 29km ENE of Willow Creek, CA
  12. 2.3 10km SE of Willow Creek, CA
  13. 2.2 9km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
  14. 2.4 21km SSE of Willow Creek, CA
  15. 2.5 16km SSE of Somes Bar, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.