QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Covelo, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Covelo in the 24 hours to 11:19 pm PST (07:19 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) N, at 3:31 pm PST on 10 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Covelo

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) west-northwest of Covelo, CA, at 8:05 am PDT on 18 June 2017 (15:05 UTC), 6.8 km deep.

USGS: 5 km WNW of Covelo, California

8:05 am PDT, Jun 18, 2017 · · 6.8 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mendocino County 45 kmGlenn County 81 kmLake County 93 kmTrinity County 94 kmTehama County 98 kmHumboldt County 112 kmColusa 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
8:05 am PDT on 18 June 2017 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) west-northwest of Covelo, CA · earthquakes near Covelo
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
6.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mendocino County, 45 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Bartlett Springs fault system, under 1 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 3431 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Covelo, 6 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: Covelo 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 2,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 37 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 39.8195, -123.3083. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mendocino County, CA 45 km (28 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mendocino County
Glenn County, CA 81 km (50 mi) ESE earthquakes near Glenn County
Lake County, CA 93 km (58 mi) SSE earthquakes near Lake County
Trinity County, CA 94 km (58 mi) N earthquakes near Trinity County
Tehama County, CA 98 km (61 mi) ENE earthquakes near Tehama County
Humboldt County, CA 112 km (69 mi) NNW earthquakes near Humboldt County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 13km N of Laytonville, CA
  2. 3.0 12 km N of Laytonville, California
  3. 1.5 36km W of Rancho Tehama Reserve, CA
  4. 1.7 14 km N of Laytonville, California
  5. 1.6 7 km ENE of Brooktrails, California
  6. 2.0 7 km ENE of Brooktrails, California
  7. 1.5 24 km SE of Covelo, California
  8. 2.2 12 km N of Brooktrails, California
  9. 1.8 8 km ENE of Covelo, California
  10. 1.5 27 km WNW of Paskenta, California
  11. 1.5 4 km NNW of Covelo, California
  12. 1.6 13 km SSE of Laytonville, California
  13. 1.6 13 km SSE of Laytonville, California
  14. 1.9 12 km N of Brooktrails, California
  15. 1.7 14 km NNE of Brooktrails, 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.