QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Arbuckle, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Arbuckle in the 24 hours to 9:03 am PST (17:03 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 94 km (58 mi) NW, at 5:01 am PDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Arbuckle

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) southwest of Arbuckle, CA, at 4:50 pm PDT on 17 August 2019 (23:50 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 22km SW of Arbuckle, CA

75 km (47 mi) WNW of Sacramento, CA · 48 km (30 mi) WNW of Woodland, CA

4:50 pm PDT, Aug 17, 2019 · · 18 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Colusa County 33 kmYolo County 37 kmNapa County 42 kmSutter County 49 kmLake County 51 kmSonoma County 72 kmSolano County 73 kmGlenn County 82 kmYuba County 89 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
4:50 pm PDT on 17 August 2019 ()
Where
22 km (14 mi) southwest of Arbuckle, CA · earthquakes near Arbuckle
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Colusa County, 33 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 7 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 2631 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 Arbuckle, 22 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: Dunnigan, Esparto, Hidden Valley Lake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 4.2 on 2018-01-18 — about 3,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 38.8792, -122.2375. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Colusa County, CA 33 km (21 mi) N earthquakes near Colusa County
Yolo County, CA 37 km (23 mi) SE earthquakes near Yolo County
Napa County, CA 42 km (26 mi) S earthquakes near Napa County
Sutter County, CA 49 km (31 mi) ENE earthquakes near Sutter County
Lake County, CA 51 km (32 mi) WNW earthquakes near Lake County
Sonoma County, CA 72 km (44 mi) WSW earthquakes near Sonoma County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 3km NW of The Geysers, CA
  2. 1.9 3km NNW of The Geysers, CA
  3. 1.6 3km SE of The Geysers, CA
  4. 1.6 2km NW of The Geysers, CA
  5. 1.9 3km NNW of The Geysers, CA
  6. 1.6 3km NW of The Geysers, CA
  7. 2.0 3km SSE of The Geysers, CA
  8. 1.9 3km WSW of Anderson Springs, CA
  9. 2.1 1km ESE of The Geysers, CA
  10. 1.7 14km E of Angwin, CA
  11. 1.8 14km E of Angwin, CA
  12. 1.9 2km NW of The Geysers, CA
  13. 2.0 4km NNW of The Geysers, CA
  14. 1.7 14km E of Angwin, CA
  15. 1.6 4km SW of Anderson Springs, 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.