QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

Earthquake near Hayfork, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Hayfork in the 24 hours to 3:13 am PST (11:13 UTC). The last one was M 3.7, 42 km (26 mi) W, at 2:44 pm PDT on 7 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 15 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Hayfork

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) north-northwest of Hayfork, CA, at 6:38 pm PST on 12 February 2019 (02:38 UTC), 36 km deep.

USGS: 19km NNW of Hayfork, CA

6:38 pm PST, Feb 12, 2019 · · 36 km deep · released about 280 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Trinity County 15 kmHumboldt County 55 kmShasta County 104 kmTehama County 110 kmSiskiyou County 116 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
6:38 pm PST on 12 February 2019 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) north-northwest of Hayfork, CA · earthquakes near Hayfork
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
36 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Trinity County, 15 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2828 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Hayfork, 19 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Weaverville.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 55,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 39,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.5× the energy of this one
  4. 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 4.5 on 2016-08-28 — about 600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.6 15 km SW of Burnt Ranch, California · 29 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 3 km NNW of Burnt Ranch, California · 23 km NW 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 40.7107, -123.2757. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Trinity County, CA 15 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Trinity County
Humboldt County, CA 55 km (34 mi) W earthquakes near Humboldt County
Shasta County, CA 104 km (65 mi) E earthquakes near Shasta County
Tehama County, CA 110 km (68 mi) SE earthquakes near Tehama County
Siskiyou County, CA 116 km (72 mi) NNE earthquakes near Siskiyou County
Del Norte County, CA 130 km (81 mi) NNW earthquakes near Del Norte County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 15km WSW of Willow Creek, CA
  2. 2.1 26km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
  3. 2.4 8km WNW of Hayfork, CA
  4. 2.1 34km NE of Redway, CA
  5. 2.3 29km W of Hayfork, CA
  6. 2.1 28km NW of Hayfork, CA
  7. 2.1 23km SSW of Willow Creek, CA
  8. 1.8 13km E of Willow Creek, CA
  9. 1.9 13km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
  10. 2.0 23km NNW of Hayfork, CA
  11. 2.3 27km SE of Willow Creek, CA
  12. 2.9 32km SSW of Hayfork, CA
  13. 2.1 7km SE of Willow Creek, CA
  14. 2.3 26km WSW of Hayfork, CA
  15. 1.8 19km E of Willow Creek, 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.