QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Clearlake Oaks, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Clearlake Oaks in the 24 hours to 1:47 pm PST (21:47 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 19 km (12 mi) SE, at 1:02 pm PST on 2 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Clearlake Oaks

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) east of Clearlake Oaks, CA, at 6:58 pm PDT on 23 October 2016 (01:58 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 7 km E of Clearlake Oaks, California

6:58 pm PDT, Oct 23, 2016 · · -0.4 km deep · released about 9 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lake County 16 kmColusa County 34 kmNapa County 63 kmSonoma County 64 kmGlenn County 65 kmYolo County 71 kmSutter County 77 kmMendocino County 86 kmSolano County 102 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
6:58 pm PDT on 23 October 2016 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) east of Clearlake Oaks, CA · earthquakes near Clearlake Oaks
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
-0.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lake County, 16 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Bartlett Springs fault system, 4 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

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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Clearlake Oaks, 7 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.

Likely felt in: Clearlake 9 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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 140,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 45 km WNW 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 39.0342, -122.5903. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lake County, CA 16 km (10 mi) WNW earthquakes near Lake County
Colusa County, CA 34 km (21 mi) ENE earthquakes near Colusa County
Napa County, CA 63 km (39 mi) SSE earthquakes near Napa County
Sonoma County, CA 64 km (40 mi) SSW earthquakes near Sonoma County
Glenn County, CA 65 km (41 mi) NNE earthquakes near Glenn County
Yolo County, CA 71 km (44 mi) ESE 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. 1.5 7 km S of Cobb, California
  2. 1.5 7 km W of Cobb, California
  3. 1.5 18 km NE of Upper Lake, California
  4. 1.7 6 km W of Middletown, California
  5. 1.7 5 km WNW of Cobb, California
  6. 1.7 9 km W of Cobb, California
  7. 2.0 5 km SW of Cobb, California
  8. 2.1 6 km N of Hopland, California
  9. 1.9 5 km SW of Cobb, California
  10. 1.6 19 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
  11. 1.5 20 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
  12. 2.2 4 km W of Cobb, California
  13. 1.9 6 km WNW of Cobb, California
  14. 1.8 9 km W of Cobb, California
  15. 2.7 8 km WNW 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.