Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 5.0mw
Earthquake near Cobb, CA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Cobb in the last 24 hours. M 1.6, 4 km (2 mi) W of Cobb, at 1:30 pm PST on 11 November 2026 (21:30 UTC); the estimated shaking in Cobb was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Cobb
This page: a magnitude 5.0 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) west of Cobb, CA, at 8:41 am PST on 14 December 2016 (16:41 UTC), 1.5 km deep. 1,476 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 10 km W of Cobb, California
43 km (27 mi) NNW of Santa Rosa, CA · 122 km (76 mi) NNW of San Francisco, CA
- When
- 8:41 am PST on 14 December 2016 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) west of Cobb, CA · earthquakes near Cobb
- Magnitude
- M 5.0 (mw)
- Depth
- 1.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1,476 reports · strongest reported intensity VI
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- Lake County, 33 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Maacama fault, 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 1653 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Cobb, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Cobb, 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 moderate earthquake. Shaking at this size can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 194 km (121 mi) from the epicentre. In Cobb, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity V (moderate). 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 10 km, intensity V · Cloverdale 15 km, intensity V · Healdsburg 24 km, intensity IV · Clearlake 24 km, intensity IV · Lakeport 25 km, intensity IV · Windsor 31 km, intensity IV · Calistoga 35 km, intensity IV · Upper Lake 39 km, intensity IV. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 490 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 6.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 340× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 15× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 5.0 about 490 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1,000× more
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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. No other earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded this close in that time.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 39 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 38.8222, -122.8413. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake County, CA | 33 km (20 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 34 km (21 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Napa County, CA | 57 km (35 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Colusa County, CA | 65 km (41 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Yolo County, CA | 83 km (52 mi) | E | earthquakes near Yolo County |
| Mendocino County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 6 km WSW of Cobb, California
- 1.9 3 km N of Geyserville, California
- 1.9 3 km SSW of Cobb, California
- 1.5 9 km WNW of Cobb, California
- 1.7 6 km S of Cobb, California
- 1.8 7 km W of Cobb, CA
- 1.6 7 km W of Cobb, California
- 1.7 3 km N of Larkfield-Wikiup, California
- 1.8 8 km S of Cobb, California
- 1.8 5 km SSE of Cobb, California
- 2.2 Northern California
- 1.5 2 km SSW of Cobb, California
- 1.8 7 km WNW of Cobb, California
- 1.8 9 km W of Cobb, California
- 1.6 4 km S 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.