QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Orland, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Orland in the 24 hours to 10:59 pm PST (06:59 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 70 km (44 mi) WSW, at 5:01 am PDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Orland

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 44 km (27 mi) west of Orland, CA, at 10:32 pm PDT on 24 September 2017 (05:32 UTC), 8.1 km deep.

USGS: 17 km NW of Elk Creek, California

76 km (47 mi) W of Chico, CA

10:32 pm PDT, Sep 24, 2017 · · 8.1 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Glenn County 28 kmTehama County 63 kmLake County 66 kmMendocino County 70 kmColusa County 70 kmButte County 94 kmTrinity County 111 kmSutter County 113 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
10:32 pm PDT on 24 September 2017 ()
Where
44 km (27 mi) west of Orland, CA · earthquakes near Orland
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
8.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Glenn County, 28 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Bartlett Springs fault system, 22 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 3330 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 Orland, 44 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 5.1 on 2016-08-10 — about 61,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 39.6970, -122.7058. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Glenn County, CA 28 km (17 mi) ESE earthquakes near Glenn County
Tehama County, CA 63 km (39 mi) NE earthquakes near Tehama County
Lake County, CA 66 km (41 mi) S earthquakes near Lake County
Mendocino County, CA 70 km (43 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mendocino County
Colusa County, CA 70 km (44 mi) SE earthquakes near Colusa County
Butte County, CA 94 km (59 mi) E earthquakes near Butte County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 13km SSE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  2. 1.9 19km NE of Upper Lake, CA
  3. 1.9 37km W of Rancho Tehama Reserve, CA
  4. 1.7 38km NNW of Alder Springs, CA
  5. 1.9 28km NW of Alder Springs, CA
  6. 2.4 41km NE of Covelo, CA
  7. 1.7 13km S of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  8. 1.6 19km ESE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  9. 1.9 17km SE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  10. 1.9 32km NNW of Alder Springs, CA
  11. 2.2 16km WNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  12. 1.6 32km NNW of Alder Springs, CA
  13. 2.0 25km W of Alder Springs, CA
  14. 1.8 39km NE of Covelo, CA
  15. 1.6 39km NE of Covelo, 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.