Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Covelo, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Covelo in the 24 hours to 3:52 pm PST (23:52 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) N, at 3:31 pm PST on 10 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Covelo
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) southeast of Covelo, CA, at 8:27 pm PDT on 6 September 2016 (03:27 UTC), 14 km deep.
USGS: 28 km SE of Covelo, California
- When
- 8:27 pm PDT on 6 September 2016 ()
- Where
- 29 km (18 mi) southeast of Covelo, CA · earthquakes near Covelo
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 42 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Bartlett Springs fault system, 5 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 3561 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Covelo, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Covelo, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 2 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Covelo, 29 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
- 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.1 on 2016-08-10 — about 78,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 39.6145, -123.0103. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Glenn County, CA | 52 km (32 mi) | E | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Lake County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Colusa County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Tehama County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Trinity County, CA | 115 km (72 mi) | N | earthquakes near Trinity 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.
- 1.6 20 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
- 2.1 19 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
- 1.7 21 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
- 3.1 20 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
- 1.6 20 km WSW of Stonyford, California
- 1.9 20 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
- 1.8 19 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
- 2.8 20 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
- 1.7 32 km NE of Covelo, California
- 1.7 5 km E of Covelo, California
- 1.5 20 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
- 1.8 17 km NE of Willits, California
- 1.7 7 km NNE of Brooktrails, California
- 1.5 18 km NE of Upper Lake, California
- 1.6 19 km NNE of Upper Lake, 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.