QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Ukiah, CA

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Ukiah in the last 24 hours. M 1.5, 10 km (6 mi) NE of Ukiah, at 12:31 pm PST on 11 November 2026 (20:31 UTC); the estimated shaking in Ukiah was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Ukiah

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 35 km (22 mi) northeast of Ukiah, CA, at 9:41 am PST on 17 January 2017 (17:41 UTC), 8.2 km deep.

USGS: 17 km ENE of Potter Valley, California

9:41 am PST, Jan 17, 2017 · · 8.2 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lake County 32 kmMendocino County 46 kmGlenn County 51 kmColusa County 62 kmSonoma County 93 kmTehama County 103 kmNapa County 108 kmSutter County 110 kmYolo County 116 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
9:41 am PST on 17 January 2017 ()
Where
35 km (22 mi) northeast of Ukiah, CA · earthquakes near Ukiah
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
8.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lake County, 32 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Bartlett Springs fault system, under 1 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 3577 days ago

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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Ukiah, 35 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, Redwood Valley.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.4 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 150,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 32 km SSW 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 39.3622, -122.9117. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lake County, CA 32 km (20 mi) SSE earthquakes near Lake County
Mendocino County, CA 46 km (29 mi) W earthquakes near Mendocino County
Glenn County, CA 51 km (32 mi) ENE earthquakes near Glenn County
Colusa County, CA 62 km (38 mi) ESE earthquakes near Colusa County
Sonoma County, CA 93 km (58 mi) S earthquakes near Sonoma County
Tehama County, CA 103 km (64 mi) NE earthquakes near Tehama County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.0 18 km NE of Upper Lake, California
  2. 1.5 19 km NE of Upper Lake, California
  3. 2.3 13 km SSE of Laytonville, California
  4. 1.9 27 km WSW of Paskenta, California
  5. 1.7 18 km NNE of Upper Lake, California
  6. 1.6 18 km NE of Upper Lake, California
  7. 2.0 18 km NE of Upper Lake, California
  8. 1.5 9 km ESE of Calpella, California
  9. 2.1 17 km NE of Upper Lake, California
  10. 1.7 9 km N of Redwood Valley, California
  11. 2.2 4 km E of Willits, California
  12. 2.4 28 km NNE of Potter Valley, California
  13. 1.7 10km SE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  14. 1.6 10km SSE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  15. 2.0 7 km E of Clearlake Oaks, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.