Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1md
Earthquake near Sacramento, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Sacramento in the 24 hours to 2:22 pm PST (22:22 UTC). The last one was M 5.6, 173 km (108 mi) WNW, at 8:10 am PDT on 24 June 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 5,311 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Sacramento
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) west-northwest of Sacramento, CA, at 4:02 pm PST on 14 November 2016 (00:02 UTC), 19 km deep.
USGS: 3 km E of Madison, California
42 km (26 mi) WNW of Sacramento, CA · 16 km (10 mi) W of Woodland, CA
- When
- 4:02 pm PST on 14 November 2016 ()
- Where
- 40 km (25 mi) west-northwest of Sacramento, CA · earthquakes near Sacramento
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (md)
- Depth
- 19 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Yolo County, 3 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 10 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 3562 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Sacramento, CA
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Sacramento, 40 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: Cottonwood, Monument Hills, Esparto, Woodland, Winters, Dunnigan.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 47 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 320,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 20× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 47 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 lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 43 km S 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 38.6843, -121.9312. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yolo County, CA | 3 km (2 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Yolo County |
| Napa County, CA | 40 km (25 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Sutter County, CA | 44 km (27 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Sutter County |
| Solano County, CA | 46 km (29 mi) | S | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Sacramento County, CA | 57 km (36 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Sacramento County |
| Colusa County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Colusa 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.
- 2.0 6 km SW of Dunnigan, California
- 2.5 6 km SW of Dunnigan, California
- 1.6 10 km W of Esparto, California
- 2.0 6 km SW of Dunnigan, California
- 2.6 13 km E of Angwin, California
- 2.6 5 km S of Monument Hills, California
- 1.9 13 km ESE of Hidden Valley Lake, California
- 1.9 4 km WNW of Moskowite Corner, California
- 1.5 4 km WSW of Moskowite Corner, California
- 2.5 5 km S of Monument Hills, California
- 1.5 13 km NE of Rutherford, California
- 1.5 2 km E of Saint Helena, California
- 2.1 12 km ESE of Elmira, California
- 2.2 6 km WSW of Moskowite Corner, California
- 2.0 14 km NNW of Moskowite Corner, 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.