Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3md
Earthquake near Santa Rosa, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Rosa in the 24 hours to 8:20 pm PST (04:20 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 5 km (3 mi) NE, at 2:01 pm PDT on 23 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Rosa
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) north of Santa Rosa, CA, at 5:32 am PST on 8 December 2016 (13:32 UTC), 2.0 km deep.
USGS: Northern California
42 km (26 mi) N of Santa Rosa, CA · 120 km (74 mi) NNW of San Francisco, CA
- When
- 5:32 am PST on 8 December 2016 ()
- Where
- 42 km (26 mi) north of Santa Rosa, CA · earthquakes near Santa Rosa
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (md)
- Depth
- 2.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lake County, 32 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Konocti Bay fault, 9 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 Santa Rosa, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 20 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Rosa, 42 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: Cobb 5 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 82 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 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× 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 82 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:
- 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 43 km NW 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 38.8187, -122.7797. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake County, CA | 32 km (20 mi) | N | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 35 km (22 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Napa County, CA | 52 km (33 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Colusa County, CA | 62 km (38 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Yolo County, CA | 78 km (48 mi) | E | earthquakes near Yolo County |
| Marin County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | S | earthquakes near Marin County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 5 km SW of Cobb, California
- 1.6 12 km N of Cazadero, California
- 1.6 5 km WNW of Cobb, California
- 1.9 4 km WSW of Cobb, California
- 1.7 11 km WNW of Cobb, California
- 1.8 10 km NW of Cobb, California
- 1.7 8 km E of Hidden Valley Lake, California
- 1.8 4 km SW of Cobb, California
- 1.7 3 km W of Cobb, California
- 1.5 8 km WNW of Cobb, California
- 1.7 7 km W of Cobb, California
- 1.9 Northern California
- 1.9 12 km E of Geyserville, California
- 1.5 4 km S of Cobb, California
- 1.7 9 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
- 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.