Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Covelo, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Covelo in the 24 hours to 5:57 pm PST (01:57 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) north-northwest of Covelo, CA, at 1:30 pm PDT on 20 March 2018 (20:30 UTC), 9.1 km deep.
USGS: 16km NNW of Covelo, CA
- When
- 1:30 pm PDT on 20 March 2018 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) north-northwest of Covelo, CA · earthquakes near Covelo
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 9.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 57 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Bartlett Springs fault system, 2 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 3155 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Covelo, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Covelo, 16 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 12,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 41 km WSW 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 39.9332, -123.3037. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 57 km (35 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Trinity County, CA | 81 km (50 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Glenn County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Tehama County, CA | 94 km (58 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Humboldt County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Lake County, CA | 104 km (64 mi) | SSE | 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.
- 2.5 40km SSE of Hayfork, CA
- 2.3 38km SSE of Hayfork, CA
- 1.8 38km W of Rancho Tehama Reserve, CA
- 1.8 37km WNW of Rancho Tehama Reserve, CA
- 2.1 31km NNW of Alder Springs, CA
- 1.5 19km NNW of Alder Springs, CA
- 2.1 34km ENE of Redway, CA
- 2.1 13km NNE of Rockport, CA
- 1.6 5km NW of Laytonville, CA
- 1.9 13km N of Brooktrails, CA
- 1.8 7km ENE of Covelo, CA
- 1.8 28km SE of Redway, CA
- 2.0 37km NNE of Covelo, CA
- 2.2 40km NE of Covelo, CA
- 1.8 28km NNW of Alder Springs, 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.