Earthquake near Eureka, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Eureka in the 24 hours to 2:38 am PST (10:38 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 128 km (79 mi) WSW, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Eureka

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) west-southwest of Eureka, CA, at 5:59 pm PDT on 30 May 2018 (00:59 UTC), 22 km deep.

USGS: 35km WNW of Ferndale, CA

5:59 pm PDT, May 30, 2018 · 2018-05-31 00:59 UTC · 22 km deep · released about 280 lb of TNT

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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: 5:59 pm PDT on 30 May 2018 (2018-05-31 00:59 UTC)
Where: 42 km (26 mi) west-southwest of Eureka, CA · earthquakes near Eureka
Magnitude: M 2.6 (md)
Depth: 22 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Humboldt County, 61 km E
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3086 days ago · we first saw it 3086 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Eureka, 42 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 280 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 53,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 38,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.3× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.6 about 280 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 2017-07-29 — about 4,400 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 36 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

6.6 32 km SW of Ferndale, California · 35 km SSE of this epicentre Apr 26, 1992
6.5 The 1932 Eureka, California Earthquake · 30 km E of this epicentre Jun 6, 1932
6.5 30 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 30 km SSE of this epicentre Apr 26, 1992
6.5 The 2010 Eureka, California Earthquake · 6 km SW of this epicentre Jan 10, 2010
6.4 Northwest of Eureka, California · 36 km NNE of this epicentre Apr 23, 1906

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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Humboldt County, CA	61 km (38 mi)	E	earthquakes near Humboldt County
Del Norte County, CA	130 km (81 mi)	NNE	earthquakes near Del Norte County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 10:38 UTC. 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.