QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

5km E of Chester, CA

· 7.9 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Plumas County 46 kmLassen County 66 kmButte County 80 kmShasta County 89 kmTehama County 92 kmSierra County 98 kmYuba County 116 kmNevada 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
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
7.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Plumas County, 46 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1702 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 870,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 620,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 55× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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.

Where

Epicentre 40.3043, -121.1772. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Plumas County, CA 46 km (28 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Lassen County, CA 66 km (41 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Lassen County
Butte County, CA 80 km (50 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Butte County
Shasta County, CA 89 km (55 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Shasta County
Tehama County, CA 92 km (57 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Tehama County
Sierra County, CA 98 km (61 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Sierra County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 16km NW of Chester, CA
  2. 2.0 17km NW of Chester, CA
  3. 1.7 18km NW of Chester, CA
  4. 1.9 16km NW of Chester, CA
  5. 1.9 16km NW of Chester, CA
  6. 1.9 17km NW of Chester, CA
  7. 2.7 18km NW of Belden, CA
  8. 2.8 6km SE of Viola, CA
  9. 1.7 21km S of Mineral, CA
  10. 1.7 22km SSE of Mineral, CA
  11. 2.1 12km N of Mineral, CA
  12. 1.5 12km ESE of Viola, CA
  13. 2.5 11km N of Mineral, CA
  14. 1.6 14km NNW of Chester, CA
  15. 1.6 4km N of Canyondam, 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.