Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Santa Rosa, CA
USGS: 1 km NW of Geyserville, California
36 km (22 mi) NNW of Santa Rosa, CA · 113 km (70 mi) NNW of San Francisco, CA
- When
- 1:09 am PDT on 24 August 2016 ()
- Where
- 36 km (22 mi) NNW of Santa Rosa, CA · earthquakes near Santa Rosa
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 5.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Sonoma County, 21 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Alexander-Redwood Hill 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 3521 days ago
A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 36 km (22 mi) NNW of Santa Rosa, CA, at 1:09 am PDT on 24 August 2016 (08:09 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Healdsburg, Cloverdale, Cobb, Windsor, Guerneville, Middletown.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 46 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.3 Northern California · 45 km S of this epicentre
- 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 47 km NNW 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 38.7183, -122.9205. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sonoma County, CA | 21 km (13 mi) | S | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Lake County, CA | 46 km (29 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Napa County, CA | 57 km (35 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Marin County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Marin County |
| Colusa County, CA | 78 km (49 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Yolo County, CA | 88 km (55 mi) | E | earthquakes near Yolo 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.
- 1.8 7 km W of Cobb, California
- 1.9 5 km WNW of Cobb, California
- 2.3 5 km WNW of Cobb, California
- 2.2 8 km W of Cobb, California
- 2.0 5 km WSW of Cobb, California
- 2.0 6 km E of Boonville, California
- 1.5 6 km W of Cobb, California
- 2.4 6 km S of Boonville, California
- 1.5 6 km S of Cobb, California
- 2.4 7 km W of Cobb, California
- 1.9 8 km W of Cobb, California
- 1.9 9 km WNW of Cobb, California
- 2.7 9 km WNW of Cobb, California
- 1.9 9 km W of Cobb, California
- 1.7 5 km SW of Cobb, California
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.