Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Ukiah, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Ukiah in the 24 hours to 12:20 pm PST (20:20 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 45 km (28 mi) NNE, at 5:01 am PDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Ukiah
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 37 km (23 mi) northeast of Ukiah, CA, at 7:21 am PDT on 31 October 2016 (14:21 UTC), 6.3 km deep.
USGS: 21 km E of Potter Valley, California
- When
- 7:21 am PDT on 31 October 2016 ()
- Where
- 37 km (23 mi) northeast of Ukiah, CA · earthquakes near Ukiah
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 6.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lake County, 29 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Bartlett Springs fault system, 3 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 Ukiah, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Ukiah, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Ukiah, 37 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Upper Lake, Nice, North Lakeport.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.3 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 180,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 33 km SW 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 39.3522, -122.8723. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake County, CA | 29 km (18 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Glenn County, CA | 49 km (30 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Mendocino County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | W | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Colusa County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 92 km (57 mi) | S | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Tehama County, CA | 102 km (63 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 18 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
- 2.2 12 km NE of Talmage, California
- 1.7 4 km ESE of Talmage, California
- 2.2 21 km NE of Potter Valley, California
- 1.6 near the coast of Northern California
- 1.6 20 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
- 1.6 19 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
- 2.5 3 km SSE of Potter Valley, California
- 1.7 25 km SE of Covelo, California
- 2.1 3 km NW of Redwood Valley, California
- 1.9 Northern California
- 2.0 8 km NNW of Elk Creek, California
- 1.5 17 km NE of Lucerne, California
- 1.6 near the coast of Northern California
- 1.6 3 km NW of Clearlake, 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.