QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Cobb, CA

USGS: 5 km SSE of Cobb, California

36 km (22 mi) N of Santa Rosa, CA · 113 km (70 mi) NNW of San Francisco, CA

4:16 am PDT, Sep 27, 2016 · · 1.8 km deep · released about 18 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sonoma County 33 kmLake County 38 kmNapa County 44 kmColusa County 61 kmYolo County 71 kmMarin County 80 kmSolano County 87 kmSutter County 92 kmGlenn County 96 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
4:16 am PDT on 27 September 2016 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) SSE of Cobb, CA · earthquakes near Cobb
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
1.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sonoma County, 33 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Konocti Bay fault, 11 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 1.9 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) SSE of Cobb, CA, at 4:16 am PDT on 27 September 2016 (11:16 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Middletown, Hidden Valley Lake, Lower Lake, Clear Lake Riviera, Clearlake, Healdsburg.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 18 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 840,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 53× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 18 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 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 38.7695, -122.7090. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sonoma County, CA 33 km (21 mi) SW earthquakes near Sonoma County
Lake County, CA 38 km (23 mi) N earthquakes near Lake County
Napa County, CA 44 km (27 mi) SE earthquakes near Napa County
Colusa County, CA 61 km (38 mi) NE earthquakes near Colusa County
Yolo County, CA 71 km (44 mi) E earthquakes near Yolo County
Marin County, CA 80 km (50 mi) S earthquakes near Marin 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. 1.7 Northern California
  2. 3.3 6 km W of Cobb, California
  3. 1.7 4 km SSW of Cobb, California
  4. 2.6 6 km W of Cobb, California
  5. 1.5 5 km W of Cobb, California
  6. 2.2 5 km WSW of Cobb, California
  7. 1.7 9 km WNW of Cobb, California
  8. 1.8 2 km WNW of Cobb, California
  9. 2.4 7 km S of Cobb, California
  10. 1.9 4 km W of Cobb, California
  11. 1.6 7 km WSW of Cobb, California
  12. 2.4 7 km WSW of Cobb, California
  13. 1.9 5 km WNW of Cobb, California
  14. 1.6 9 km W of Cobb, California
  15. 1.5 7 km W 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

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