Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0md
Earthquake near Laytonville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Laytonville in the 24 hours to 4:51 pm PST (00:51 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 13 km (8 mi) WSW, at 7:25 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Laytonville
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) north-northeast of Laytonville, CA, at 3:37 pm PDT on 20 March 2017 (22:37 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 12 km NNE of Laytonville, California
- When
- 3:37 pm PDT on 20 March 2017 ()
- Where
- 13 km (8 mi) north-northeast of Laytonville, CA · earthquakes near Laytonville
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (md)
- Depth
- -1.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 41 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Maacama fault, 8 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 3523 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Laytonville, 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Laytonville, 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.
Likely felt in: Laytonville 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 32 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 470,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 330,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 30× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 32 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 4.1 on 2016-11-06 — about 1,100 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 25 km W 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 39.7993, -123.4448. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 41 km (25 mi) | S | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Glenn County, CA | 92 km (57 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Lake County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Trinity County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Humboldt County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Tehama County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 5 km WNW of Covelo, California
- 1.9 5 km WNW of Covelo, California
- 1.5 9 km NE of Willits, California
- 1.6 8 km E of Willits, California
- 2.1 5 km SSE of Laytonville, California
- 2.2 22 km NNE of Potter Valley, California
- 2.0 4 km N of Laytonville, California
- 2.0 19 km SSE of Ruth, California
- 1.9 19 km SSE of Ruth, California
- 1.7 5 km ESE of Leggett, California
- 3.0 26 km SE of Ruth, California
- 1.6 6 km NE of Laytonville, California
- 1.6 4 km N of Laytonville, California
- 1.6 33 km NE of Covelo, California
- 1.7 3 km ENE of Garberville, 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.