Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9md
Earthquake near Willow Creek, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Willow Creek in the 24 hours to 10:11 pm PST (06:11 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 175 km (109 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 Willow Creek
This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 30 km (19 mi) northeast of Willow Creek, CA, at 8:39 am PDT on 16 October 2018 (15:39 UTC), 39 km deep.
USGS: 25km E of Weitchpec, CA
- When
- 8:39 am PDT on 16 October 2018 ()
- Where
- 30 km (19 mi) northeast of Willow Creek, CA · earthquakes near Willow Creek
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (md)
- Depth
- 39 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Trinity County, 62 km SSE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2948 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Willow Creek, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Willow Creek, 30 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 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 26 km NNW of Willow Creek, California · 32 km W of this epicentre
- 5.4 3 km NNW of Burnt Ranch, California · 36 km SSW 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 41.1563, -123.4115. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trinity County, CA | 62 km (38 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Humboldt County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Del Norte County, CA | 81 km (51 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Del Norte County |
| Siskiyou County, CA | 88 km (54 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Siskiyou County |
| Shasta County, CA | 123 km (76 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Shasta County |
| Tehama County, CA | 152 km (94 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 24km WNW of Weaverville, CA
- 1.8 9km W of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.2 20km SE of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.2 28km NW of Weaverville, CA
- 2.1 16km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.5 27km SSE of Somes Bar, CA
- 2.8 15km WNW of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.2 3km NW of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.5 31km WNW of Weaverville, CA
- 2.1 24km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.8 22km NW of Weitchpec, CA
- 2.3 29km NNW of Hayfork, CA
- 2.2 12km E of Blue Lake, CA
- 2.5 29km NNW of Hayfork, CA
- 2.1 22km NNW of Hayfork, 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.