QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Bayview, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bayview in the 24 hours to 8:14 am PST (16:14 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 125 km (78 mi) WSW, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bayview

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west of Bayview, CA, at 4:10 pm PDT on 23 October 2016 (23:10 UTC), 17 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 5 km W of Bayview, California

4:10 pm PDT, Oct 23, 2016 · · 17 km deep · released about 49 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bayview Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humboldt County 28 kmTrinity County 96 kmDel Norte County 111 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
4:10 pm PDT on 23 October 2016 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) west of Bayview, CA · earthquakes near Bayview
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Humboldt County, 28 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Little Salmon fault, 2 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 3563 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Bayview, 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Humboldt Hill, Eureka, Cutten, Pine Hills, Myrtletown, Bayside.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 49 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 310,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 220,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 49 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 4.8 on 2016-07-21 — about 10,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 28 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 The 1980 Eureka, California Earthquake · 39 km N of this epicentre
  2. 7.2 The 1992 Petrolia, California Earthquake · 48 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.5 The 1932 Eureka, California Earthquake · 6 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 6.5 30 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 46 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 6.5 The 2010 Eureka, California Earthquake · 40 km WSW 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 40.7675, -124.2453. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humboldt County, CA 28 km (17 mi) ESE earthquakes near Humboldt County
Trinity County, CA 96 km (60 mi) E earthquakes near Trinity County
Del Norte County, CA 111 km (69 mi) NNE earthquakes near Del Norte County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 9 km SSE of Ferndale, California
  2. 1.8 4 km NNE of Hydesville, California
  3. 1.7 8 km SSE of Ferndale, California
  4. 1.7 21 km SW of Ferndale, California
  5. 2.5 15 km WSW of Scotia, California
  6. 2.3 4 km SW of Scotia, California
  7. 1.7 7 km ESE of Blue Lake, California
  8. 2.1 19 km NNE of Redcrest, California
  9. 2.8 19 km NNE of Redcrest, California
  10. 2.0 17 km SW of Scotia, California
  11. 1.8 16 km NE of Hydesville, California
  12. 1.9 14 km SW of Scotia, California
  13. 1.8 17 km ESE of Blue Lake, California
  14. 2.1 18 km ESE of Indianola, California
  15. 2.2 1 km NNE of Humboldt Hill, 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.