QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Rio Dell, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Rio Dell in the 24 hours to 4:35 am PST (12:35 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 126 km (78 mi) W, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Rio Dell

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) south-southeast of Rio Dell, CA, at 6:11 am PDT on 16 July 2018 (13:11 UTC), 23 km deep.

USGS: 23km SSE of Rio Dell, CA

6:11 am PDT, Jul 16, 2018 · · 23 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rio Dell Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humboldt County 42 kmTrinity County 80 kmMendocino County 109 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
6:11 am PDT on 16 July 2018 ()
Where
23 km (14 mi) south-southeast of Rio Dell, CA · earthquakes near Rio Dell
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
23 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humboldt County, 42 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Little Salmon fault, 19 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 3039 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Rio Dell, 23 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Redway, Hydesville.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 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 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 4.8 on 2016-07-21 — about 68,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 The 1992 Petrolia, California Earthquake · 23 km W of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Near Rio Dell, California · 28 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 31 km NW of Shelter Cove, California · 33 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 30 km SSW of Scotia, California · 29 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 29 km W of Shelter Cove, California · 48 km SW 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 40.3262, -123.9553. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humboldt County, CA 42 km (26 mi) N earthquakes near Humboldt County
Trinity County, CA 80 km (49 mi) ENE earthquakes near Trinity County
Mendocino County, CA 109 km (67 mi) SSE earthquakes near Mendocino County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 12km N of Petrolia, CA
  2. 1.9 28km W of Hayfork, CA
  3. 2.5 29km W of Hayfork, CA
  4. 2.6 7km SE of Pine Hills, CA
  5. 2.3 18km WSW of Petrolia, CA
  6. 2.5 25km W of Hayfork, CA
  7. 2.2 8km SSE of Ferndale, CA
  8. 2.7 8km SSE of Ferndale, CA
  9. 2.0 20km WSW of Ferndale, CA
  10. 2.5 19km WSW of Petrolia, CA
  11. 1.9 16km SW of Petrolia, CA
  12. 1.6 18km SE of Petrolia, CA
  13. 1.9 12km W of Petrolia, CA
  14. 2.6 16km NW of Petrolia, CA
  15. 2.3 8km WSW of Petrolia, 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.