QuakeIndex

quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

10km N of Thermalito, CA

· -0.2 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Butte County 8 kmYuba County 42 kmSutter County 63 kmGlenn County 69 kmColusa County 72 kmNevada County 78 kmPlumas County 79 kmTehama County 80 kmSierra County 92 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 1.7 (md)
Depth
-0.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Butte County, 8 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2733 days ago

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

USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 39.5962, -121.5952. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Butte County, CA 8 km (5 mi) S of here earthquakes near Butte County
Yuba County, CA 42 km (26 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Yuba County
Sutter County, CA 63 km (39 mi) N of here earthquakes near Sutter County
Glenn County, CA 69 km (43 mi) E of here earthquakes near Glenn County
Colusa County, CA 72 km (45 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Colusa County
Nevada County, CA 78 km (49 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Nevada County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 1km NNE of Chico, CA
  2. 2.1 6km S of Bucks Lake, CA
  3. 2.1 8km W of La Porte, CA
  4. 1.8 5km SW of Hamilton City, CA
  5. 2.4 6km SW of Hamilton City, CA
  6. 1.9 10km NNW of Oroville, CA
  7. 1.8 14km N of Colusa, CA
  8. 2.5 15km ENE of Willows, CA
  9. 1.6 4km NNE of Hamilton City, CA
  10. 1.6 12km SE of Willows, CA
  11. 2.2 16km N of Colusa, CA
  12. 1.9 6km SW of Hamilton City, CA
  13. 1.8 6km SW of Hamilton City, CA
  14. 2.5 5km NNE of Hamilton City, CA
  15. 2.5 4km SE of Concow, 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.