QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Cloverdale, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Cloverdale in the 24 hours to 4:38 pm PST (00:38 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 22 km (14 mi) E, at 4:44 pm PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Cloverdale

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) west-southwest of Cloverdale, CA, at 3:14 pm PDT on 18 March 2017 (22:14 UTC), 6.0 km deep.

USGS: 12 km WSW of Cloverdale, California

54 km (34 mi) NW of Santa Rosa, CA · 129 km (80 mi) NNW of San Francisco, CA

3:14 pm PDT, Mar 18, 2017 · · 6.0 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sonoma County 35 kmLake County 51 kmMendocino County 77 kmNapa County 79 kmMarin County 89 kmColusa County 91 kmYolo County 110 kmGlenn County 113 kmSan Francisco County 118 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
3:14 pm PDT on 18 March 2017 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) west-southwest of Cloverdale, CA · earthquakes near Cloverdale
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
6.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sonoma County, 35 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Alexander-Redwood Hill fault, 16 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 3522 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 Cloverdale, 13 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: Sea Ranch.

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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.0 on 2016-12-14 — about 110,000 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 · 38 km N 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 38.7795, -123.1615. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sonoma County, CA 35 km (22 mi) SE earthquakes near Sonoma County
Lake County, CA 51 km (32 mi) NE earthquakes near Lake County
Mendocino County, CA 77 km (48 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mendocino County
Napa County, CA 79 km (49 mi) ESE earthquakes near Napa County
Marin County, CA 89 km (55 mi) SSE earthquakes near Marin County
Colusa County, CA 91 km (57 mi) ENE earthquakes near Colusa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 6km NW of The Geysers, CA
  2. 1.5 7 km W of Cobb, California
  3. 1.6 8 km W of Cobb, California
  4. 1.6 6 km SSW of Cobb, California
  5. 1.5 5 km SW of Cobb, California
  6. 1.5 4 km WNW of Cobb, California
  7. 2.0 4 km WNW of Cobb, California
  8. 2.6 6 km WNW of Cobb, California
  9. 1.6 9 km SW of Kelseyville, California
  10. 1.9 4 km SSW of Cobb, California
  11. 1.9 8 km W of Cobb, California
  12. 1.5 7 km W of Cobb, California
  13. 1.9 8 km WSW of Cobb, California
  14. 1.5 5 km WNW of Cobb, California
  15. 2.2 3 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

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