QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.4mw

6 km NW of Belden, CA

· 7.8 km deep · released about 64 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Plumas County 41 kmButte County 49 kmTehama County 80 kmSierra County 84 kmYuba County 86 kmNevada County 94 kmLassen County 95 kmShasta County 102 kmGlenn County 106 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 4.4 (mw)
Depth
7.8 km below the surface
Felt
1807 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Measured shaking
intensity V (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Nearest
Plumas County, 41 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 190 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon. 1807 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 64 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 2,600× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 120× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 83× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.4 about 64 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 130× more

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 40.0400, -121.3007. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Plumas County, CA 41 km (25 mi) W of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Butte County, CA 49 km (30 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Butte County
Tehama County, CA 80 km (50 mi) E of here earthquakes near Tehama County
Sierra County, CA 84 km (52 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Yuba County, CA 86 km (53 mi) N of here earthquakes near Yuba County
Nevada County, CA 94 km (59 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Nevada 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. 2.8 3 km SW of Canyondam, CA
  2. 2.2 2 km ENE of Almanor, CA
  3. 2.5 3 km NE of Almanor, CA
  4. 3.2 3 km NE of Almanor, CA
  5. 1.9 4 km W of Hamilton Branch, CA
  6. 1.6 11 km ESE of Mineral, CA
  7. 1.8 4 km NE of Almanor, CA
  8. 1.7 3 km ENE of Almanor, CA
  9. 1.6 1 km NE of Prattville, CA
  10. 1.8 4 km W of Hamilton Branch, CA
  11. 3.6 3 km NE of Almanor, CA
  12. 2.1 3 km NE of Almanor, CA
  13. 2.1 2 km NE of Prattville, CA
  14. 1.7 3 km S of Prattville, CA
  15. 2.0 1 km N of Almanor, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 5.5 on 2023-05-11 — it released about 39 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

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