Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Eureka, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Eureka in the 24 hours to 6:46 pm PST (02:46 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 128 km (79 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 Eureka
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) east-southeast of Eureka, CA, at 10:48 am PDT on 12 September 2019 (17:48 UTC), 29 km deep.
USGS: 30km S of Willow Creek, CA
- When
- 10:48 am PDT on 12 September 2019 ()
- Where
- 48 km (30 mi) east-southeast of Eureka, CA · earthquakes near Eureka
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 29 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Humboldt County, 26 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Bald Mountain-Big Lagoon fault, 20 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 2617 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Eureka, 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 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 Eureka, 48 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 6.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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 4.8 on 2016-07-21 — about 75,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1954 Eureka-Arcata, California Earthquake · 30 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Eureka, California · 35 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.6 15 km SW of Burnt Ranch, California · 6 km N of this epicentre
- 5.4 3 km NNW of Burnt Ranch, California · 22 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 1 km NE of Samoa, California · 49 km WNW 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 40.6658, -123.6255. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt County, CA | 26 km (16 mi) | W | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Trinity County, CA | 43 km (27 mi) | E | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Tehama County, CA | 132 km (82 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Siskiyou County, CA | 137 km (85 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Siskiyou County |
| Glenn County, CA | 157 km (98 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 10km NE of Hydesville, CA
- 2.3 26km WSW of Hayfork, CA
- 1.8 19km E of Willow Creek, CA
- 1.9 3km NE of Hydesville, CA
- 1.8 3km NE of Hydesville, CA
- 1.9 4km NE of Hydesville, CA
- 1.8 25km N of Redway, CA
- 1.9 6km N of Hayfork, CA
- 2.2 18km E of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.8 22km NE of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.6 21km NE of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.3 36km SSW of Hayfork, CA
- 1.6 31km WSW of Hayfork, CA
- 1.6 28km W of Hayfork, CA
- 1.6 22km ESE of Hydesville, 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.