QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near Fort Bragg, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Fort Bragg in the 24 hours to 5:16 am PST (13:16 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 186 km (115 mi) NW, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Fort Bragg

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) north-northeast of Fort Bragg, CA, at 2:37 pm PST on 22 December 2017 (22:37 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 19km NE of Rockport, CA

2:37 pm PST, Dec 22, 2017 · · -0.0 km deep · released about 35 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mendocino County 50 kmHumboldt County 98 kmTrinity County 99 kmGlenn County 111 kmLake County 114 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
2:37 pm PST on 22 December 2017 ()
Where
47 km (29 mi) north-northeast of Fort Bragg, CA · earthquakes near Fort Bragg
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
-0.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mendocino County, 50 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Maacama fault, 14 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 3241 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Fort Bragg, 47 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Laytonville.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 35 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 440,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 310,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 28× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 35 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 4.3 on 2017-12-14 — about 2,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 11 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 7 km ESE of Shelter Cove, California · 34 km WNW 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 39.8543, -123.6540. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mendocino County, CA 50 km (31 mi) SSE earthquakes near Mendocino County
Humboldt County, CA 98 km (61 mi) NNW earthquakes near Humboldt County
Trinity County, CA 99 km (62 mi) NNE earthquakes near Trinity County
Glenn County, CA 111 km (69 mi) ESE earthquakes near Glenn County
Lake County, CA 114 km (71 mi) SE earthquakes near Lake 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. 1.5 1km ENE of Redway, CA
  2. 2.1 34km ENE of Redway, CA
  3. 2.1 13km NNE of Rockport, CA
  4. 1.6 5km NW of Laytonville, CA
  5. 1.9 13km N of Brooktrails, CA
  6. 1.8 7km ENE of Covelo, CA
  7. 1.8 28km SE of Redway, CA
  8. 2.1 19km NNE of Redway, CA
  9. 1.6 20km N of Covelo, CA
  10. 2.4 4km NNW of Laytonville, CA
  11. 1.6 7km SW of Laytonville, CA
  12. 2.2 4km NNW of Laytonville, CA
  13. 2.1 4km NNW of Laytonville, CA
  14. 1.7 17km NE of Fort Bragg, CA
  15. 2.0 8km 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.