chemical explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Oroville East, CA
USGS: 3 km NNW of Oroville East, California
37 km (23 mi) SE of Chico, CA · 108 km (67 mi) N of Sacramento, CA
- When
- 5:30 pm PDT on 8 June 2017 ()
- Where
- 4 km (2 mi) NNW of Oroville East, CA · earthquakes near Oroville East
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- -0.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Butte County, 17 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Foothills fault system, 3 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 3403 days ago
A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) NNW of Oroville East, CA, at 5:30 pm PDT on 8 June 2017 (00:30 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Oroville, South Oroville, Thermalito, Palermo, Berry Creek, Challenge-Brownsville.
USGS catalogues this as chemical explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.8 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 West of Downieville, California · 43 km E of this epicentre
- 5.7 The 1975 Oroville, California Earthquake · 13 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.2 4 km E of Palermo, California · 11 km S of this epicentre
- 5.1 5 km ENE of Palermo, California · 10 km S 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 39.5382, -121.4968. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Butte County, CA | 17 km (10 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Butte County |
| Yuba County, CA | 33 km (20 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Yuba County |
| Sutter County, CA | 59 km (36 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Sutter County |
| Nevada County, CA | 68 km (42 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Nevada County |
| Colusa County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Plumas County, CA | 77 km (48 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Plumas County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 14km S of Hamilton City, CA
- 1.6 14km S of Hamilton City, CA
- 1.7 12km S of Hamilton City, CA
- 1.6 17km ESE of Willows, CA
- 2.0 12km SSE of Bucks Lake, CA
- 1.8 4km ESE of Palermo, CA
- 1.8 6km E of Durham, CA
- 1.7 7km ENE of Durham, CA
- 1.9 14km ENE of Willows, CA
- 2.7 6km ENE of Durham, CA
- 2.0 2km E of Hamilton City, CA
- 2.0 16km SE of Willows, CA
- 1.7 10km N of Thermalito, CA
- 1.5 4km SE of Palermo, CA
- 2.1 3km NW of Oroville East, 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
- 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.