QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Soda Bay, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Soda Bay in the 24 hours to 11:50 pm PST (07:50 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 24 km (15 mi) S, at 4:44 pm PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Soda Bay

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Soda Bay, CA, at 6:36 am PDT on 14 April 2018 (13:36 UTC), 3.4 km deep.

USGS: 4km SSE of Soda Bay, CA

58 km (36 mi) N of Santa Rosa, CA · 136 km (84 mi) NNW of San Francisco, CA

6:36 am PDT, Apr 14, 2018 · · 3.4 km deep · released about 7.8 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lake County 16 kmSonoma County 51 kmColusa County 52 kmNapa County 64 kmMendocino County 78 kmGlenn County 78 kmYolo County 82 kmSutter County 93 kmMarin County 102 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
6:36 am PDT on 14 April 2018 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Soda Bay, CA · earthquakes near Soda Bay
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
3.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lake County, 16 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Konocti Bay fault, 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 3124 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Soda Bay, 4 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: Clear Lake Riviera, Kelseyville, Clearlake Oaks, Clearlake, Lakeport, Lower Lake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.8 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.1 on 2016-08-10 — about 170,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 33 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 38.9662, -122.7730. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lake County, CA 16 km (10 mi) N earthquakes near Lake County
Sonoma County, CA 51 km (32 mi) SSW earthquakes near Sonoma County
Colusa County, CA 52 km (32 mi) ENE earthquakes near Colusa County
Napa County, CA 64 km (40 mi) SE earthquakes near Napa County
Mendocino County, CA 78 km (48 mi) NW earthquakes near Mendocino County
Glenn County, CA 78 km (48 mi) NNE earthquakes near Glenn County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 5km NNW of The Geysers, CA
  2. 1.6 4km NW of Angwin, CA
  3. 2.1 6km W of Cobb, CA
  4. 1.5 3km SSE of Anderson Springs, CA
  5. 3.0 19km NE of Upper Lake, CA
  6. 1.7 6km NW of The Geysers, CA
  7. 1.7 4km SSE of The Geysers, CA
  8. 2.0 4km SE of The Geysers, CA
  9. 1.8 7km WNW of The Geysers, CA
  10. 1.6 7km NW of The Geysers, CA
  11. 1.9 3km WNW of Lower Lake, CA
  12. 1.7 2km NNE of The Geysers, CA
  13. 1.5 7km WNW of The Geysers, CA
  14. 2.8 7km NW of The Geysers, CA
  15. 1.8 2km N of The Geysers, 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.