QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Santa Rosa, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Rosa in the 24 hours to 5:45 pm PST (01:45 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) southwest of Santa Rosa, CA, at 4:20 am PST on 19 February 2017 (12:20 UTC), 5.2 km deep.

USGS: 3 km NNW of Bloomfield, California

74 km (46 mi) NNW of San Francisco, CA · 18 km (11 mi) SW of Santa Rosa, CA

4:20 am PST, Feb 19, 2017 · · 5.2 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Rosa Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sonoma County 20 kmMarin County 35 kmNapa County 50 kmSan Francisco County 70 kmSolano County 81 kmLake County 85 kmYolo County 92 kmContra Costa County 93 kmColusa County 107 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
4:20 am PST on 19 February 2017 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) southwest of Santa Rosa, CA · earthquakes near Santa Rosa
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
5.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sonoma County, 20 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 15 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 3548 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Rosa, 17 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: Sebastopol, Occidental, Graton, Camp Meeker, Forestville, Cotati.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.7 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× 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 8.7 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 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 6 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 Northern California · 5 km SE 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 38.3470, -122.8680. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sonoma County, CA 20 km (13 mi) NNW earthquakes near Sonoma County
Marin County, CA 35 km (21 mi) SSE earthquakes near Marin County
Napa County, CA 50 km (31 mi) ENE earthquakes near Napa County
San Francisco County, CA 70 km (44 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Francisco County
Solano County, CA 81 km (51 mi) E earthquakes near Solano County
Lake County, CA 85 km (53 mi) N earthquakes near Lake County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 7 km S of Cobb, California
  2. 2.3 8 km WSW of Cobb, California
  3. 1.6 7 km W of Middletown, California
  4. 1.6 7 km SW of Napa, California
  5. 1.5 7 km S of Cobb, California
  6. 2.0 4 km S of Cobb, California
  7. 1.6 6 km SW of Cobb, California
  8. 2.6 5 km SSW of Cobb, California
  9. 3.7 5 km S of Cobb, California
  10. 1.8 4 km SSW of Cobb, California
  11. 1.5 7 km S of Cobb, California
  12. 2.4 7 km S of Cobb, California
  13. 1.6 6 km SSW of Cobb, California
  14. 1.5 5 km SW of Cobb, California
  15. 2.6 5 km SW 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

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