QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Windsor, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Windsor in the 24 hours to 3:42 am PST (11:42 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 30 km (18 mi) N, at 11:06 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Windsor

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north-northeast of Windsor, CA, at 5:01 am PDT on 7 September 2023 (12:01 UTC), 8.3 km deep.

USGS: 5 km NNE of Windsor, CA

18 km (11 mi) NNW of Santa Rosa, CA

5:01 am PDT, Sep 7, 2023 · · 8.3 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sonoma County 14 kmNapa County 42 kmLake County 58 kmMarin County 60 kmYolo County 78 kmColusa County 81 kmSolano County 83 kmSan Francisco County 98 kmContra Costa County 105 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
5:01 am PDT on 7 September 2023 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) north-northeast of Windsor, CA · earthquakes near Windsor
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
8.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sonoma County, 14 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Rodgers Creek fault, under 1 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 1161 days ago

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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Windsor, 5 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.

Likely felt in: Windsor 5 km, intensity II · Healdsburg 7 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 5.0 on 2016-12-14 — about 130,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 30 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 Northern California · 30 km S 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 38.5890, -122.7938. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sonoma County, CA 14 km (8 mi) WSW earthquakes near Sonoma County
Napa County, CA 42 km (26 mi) ESE earthquakes near Napa County
Lake County, CA 58 km (36 mi) N earthquakes near Lake County
Marin County, CA 60 km (37 mi) S earthquakes near Marin County
Yolo County, CA 78 km (48 mi) E earthquakes near Yolo County
Colusa County, CA 81 km (50 mi) NE earthquakes near Colusa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 12 km SE of Middletown, CA
  2. 1.5 12 km SE of Middletown, CA
  3. 2.4 12 km SE of Middletown, CA
  4. 1.8 12 km SE of Middletown, CA
  5. 1.9 7 km W of Cobb, CA
  6. 2.0 1 km NE of The Geysers, CA
  7. 1.6 6 km NW of The Geysers, CA
  8. 1.9 12 km SE of Middletown, CA
  9. 1.6 14 km NNE of Angwin, CA
  10. 1.9 6 km WNW of The Geysers, CA
  11. 1.6 12 km SE of Middletown, CA
  12. 1.6 12 km SE of Middletown, CA
  13. 1.8 12 km SE of Middletown, CA
  14. 1.5 3 km E of The Geysers, CA
  15. 1.6 4 km WNW of Cobb, 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.