QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9ml

Earthquake near Rio Dell, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Rio Dell in the 24 hours to 2:23 am PST (10:23 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 126 km (78 mi) W, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Rio Dell

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) west-southwest of Rio Dell, CA, at 5:10 pm PDT on 6 October 2019 (00:10 UTC), 19 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 28km W of Petrolia, CA

5:10 pm PDT, Oct 6, 2019 · · 19 km deep · released about 720 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rio Dell Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humboldt County 73 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
5:10 pm PDT on 6 October 2019 ()
Where
48 km (30 mi) west-southwest of Rio Dell, CA · earthquakes near Rio Dell
Magnitude
M 2.9 (ml)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Measured shaking
intensity I (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Humboldt County, 73 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Mattole Canyon fault, 15 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 2512 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 27 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In Rio Dell, 48 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 720 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 21,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 15,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 720 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 5.6 on 2019-06-23 — about 9,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 43 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 The 1992 Petrolia, California Earthquake · 33 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 32 km SW of Ferndale, California · 9 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 6.5 30 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 14 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 6.5 The 2010 Eureka, California Earthquake · 39 km N of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 Near Rio Dell, California · 41 km ENE 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 40.3105, -124.6115. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humboldt County, CA 73 km (45 mi) NE earthquakes near Humboldt County
Mendocino County, CA 140 km (87 mi) SE earthquakes near Mendocino County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 5km NE of Petrolia, CA
  2. 3.0 20km W of Petrolia, CA
  3. 1.5 13km SE of Petrolia, CA
  4. 2.4 26km W of Petrolia, CA
  5. 2.2 18km NW of Petrolia, CA
  6. 2.7 41km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  7. 2.6 44km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  8. 1.7 8km WSW of Petrolia, CA
  9. 2.5 55km W of Petrolia, CA
  10. 2.3 9km WSW of Petrolia, CA
  11. 2.0 18km W of Petrolia, CA
  12. 2.7 40km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  13. 2.0 15km SE of Petrolia, CA
  14. 2.4 8km SW of Petrolia, CA
  15. 4.1 9km SW of Petrolia, 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.