Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3md
Earthquake near Monument Hills, CA
USGS: 6 km SSW of Monument Hills, California
39 km (24 mi) W of Sacramento, CA · 16 km (10 mi) WSW of Woodland, CA
- When
- 12:17 am PST on 3 December 2016 ()
- Where
- 7 km (4 mi) SSW of Monument Hills, CA · earthquakes near Monument Hills
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (md)
- Depth
- 22 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Yolo County, 8 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 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 2.3 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) SSW of Monument Hills, CA, at 12:17 am PST on 3 December 2016 (08:17 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Cottonwood, Winters, Esparto, Woodland, Davis, Allendale.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 77 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 77 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 · 35 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 38.6102, -121.9130. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yolo County, CA | 8 km (5 mi) | N | earthquakes near Yolo County |
| Napa County, CA | 38 km (23 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Solano County, CA | 38 km (24 mi) | S | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Sutter County, CA | 51 km (32 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Sutter County |
| Sacramento County, CA | 53 km (33 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Sacramento County |
| Colusa County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Colusa County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.8 15 km WSW of Esparto, California
- 1.7 13 km NNW of Moskowite Corner, California
- 3.3 2 km ENE of Angwin, California
- 1.9 14 km NW of Moskowite Corner, California
- 1.7 10 km ESE of Hidden Valley Lake, California
- 1.7 6 km SSW of Nicolaus, California
- 1.8 6 km WSW of Dunnigan, California
- 2.0 4 km SSE of Monument Hills, California
- 2.4 5 km SSW of Dunnigan, California
- 1.6 Northern California
- 1.8 8 km SSW of Dunnigan, California
- 1.7 7 km SSW of Dunnigan, California
- 2.0 6 km SW of Dunnigan, California
- 2.5 6 km SW of Dunnigan, California
- 1.6 10 km W of Esparto, 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.