QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

3 km SE of Chester, California

· -1.6 km deep · released about 51 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Plumas County 46 kmLassen County 69 kmButte County 77 kmShasta County 88 kmTehama County 89 kmSierra County 98 kmYuba County 114 kmNevada 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
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
-1.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Plumas County, 46 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3425 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 51 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 51 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.

Where

Epicentre 40.2870, -121.2062. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Plumas County, CA 46 km (29 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Lassen County, CA 69 km (43 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Lassen County
Butte County, CA 77 km (48 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Butte County
Shasta County, CA 88 km (55 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Shasta County
Tehama County, CA 89 km (55 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Tehama County
Sierra County, CA 98 km (61 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Sierra County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 4 km S of Canyondam, California
  2. 2.3 4km SSE of Canyondam, CA
  3. 2.3 5km ESE of Chester, CA
  4. 1.7 1 km NW of Paxton, California
  5. 2.0 2km NW of Paxton, CA
  6. 1.6 12km NNE of Mineral, CA
  7. 1.8 1km WSW of Canyondam, CA
  8. 2.1 13km SE of Mineral, CA
  9. 1.5 2 km ESE of Greenville, California
  10. 2.3 3km WNW of Taylorsville, CA
  11. 2.0 11km ENE of Hamilton Branch, CA
  12. 1.9 11km WNW of Belden, CA
  13. 1.9 42km SSE of Fall River Mills, CA
  14. 1.6 11km WSW of Chester, CA
  15. 1.6 1km SSW of Canyondam, CA

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.