QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

5km N of Chico, CA

· 9.6 km deep · released about 400 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Butte County 24 kmTehama County 50 kmGlenn County 52 kmYuba County 71 kmColusa County 76 kmSutter County 84 kmPlumas County 90 kmNevada County 107 kmLake County 108 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
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
9.6 km below the surface
Felt
43 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Butte County, 24 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2943 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 43 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 400 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 38,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 27,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 400 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.

Where

Epicentre 39.7847, -121.8427. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Butte County, CA 24 km (15 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Butte County
Tehama County, CA 50 km (31 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Tehama County
Glenn County, CA 52 km (32 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Glenn County
Yuba County, CA 71 km (44 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Yuba County
Colusa County, CA 76 km (47 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Colusa County
Sutter County, CA 84 km (52 mi) N of here earthquakes near Sutter County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 22km NW of Storrie, CA
  2. 2.8 4km NE of Hamilton City, CA
  3. 1.8 4km NE of Hamilton City, CA
  4. 2.9 4km NE of Hamilton City, CA
  5. 1.9 6km N of Chico, CA
  6. 1.9 4km ENE of Palermo, CA
  7. 1.8 23km S of Mineral, CA
  8. 2.5 8km W of Durham, CA
  9. 1.6 15km SW of Durham, CA
  10. 2.2 11km N of Oroville, CA
  11. 1.6 18km ESE of Willows, CA
  12. 1.7 16km E of Willows, CA
  13. 2.2 15km ENE of Willows, CA
  14. 1.8 6km WSW of Belden, CA
  15. 1.9 10km N of Thermalito, 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.