QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Hayfork, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Hayfork in the 24 hours to 7:20 am PST (15:20 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 17 km (11 mi) south-southeast of Hayfork, CA, at 1:59 am PDT on 21 August 2019 (08:59 UTC), 26 km deep.

USGS: 17km SSE of Hayfork, CA

1:59 am PDT, Aug 21, 2019 · · 26 km deep · released about 260 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Trinity County 27 kmHumboldt County 74 kmTehama County 83 kmShasta County 101 kmGlenn County 109 kmMendocino County 111 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
1:59 am PDT on 21 August 2019 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) south-southeast of Hayfork, CA · earthquakes near Hayfork
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
26 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Trinity County, 27 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2634 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, 17 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 260 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 59,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 42,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 260 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 640 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.5 33 km NW of Rancho Tehama Reserve, California · 43 km ESE 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 40.4038, -123.1417. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Trinity County, CA 27 km (17 mi) N earthquakes near Trinity County
Humboldt County, CA 74 km (46 mi) WNW earthquakes near Humboldt County
Tehama County, CA 83 km (52 mi) ESE earthquakes near Tehama County
Shasta County, CA 101 km (63 mi) ENE earthquakes near Shasta County
Glenn County, CA 109 km (68 mi) SE earthquakes near Glenn County
Mendocino County, CA 111 km (69 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mendocino County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 32km W of Hayfork, CA
  2. 2.1 30km NE of Redway, CA
  3. 1.6 35km E of Hydesville, CA
  4. 2.1 41km NE of Covelo, CA
  5. 4.0 20km ENE of Redway, CA
  6. 2.3 38km NNE of Covelo, CA
  7. 2.9 40km NNE of Covelo, CA
  8. 2.7 41km NNE of Covelo, CA
  9. 2.2 7km NNW of Hayfork, CA
  10. 1.8 35km S of Willow Creek, CA
  11. 2.3 26km S of Hayfork, CA
  12. 1.9 29km NE of Redway, CA
  13. 2.0 19km NE of Redway, CA
  14. 2.1 27km SE of Hayfork, CA
  15. 2.2 42km NE of Covelo, 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.