QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

Earthquake near Blue Lake, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Blue Lake in the 24 hours to 10:45 am PST (18:45 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 145 km (90 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 Blue Lake

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Blue Lake, CA, at 6:00 pm PDT on 28 October 2019 (01:00 UTC), 27 km deep. 18 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 13km ESE of Blue Lake, CA

6:00 pm PDT, Oct 28, 2019 · · 27 km deep · released about 1,800 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Blue Lake Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humboldt County 17 kmTrinity County 65 kmDel Norte County 101 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
6:00 pm PDT on 28 October 2019 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Blue Lake, CA · earthquakes near Blue Lake
Magnitude
M 3.2 (ml)
Depth
27 km below the surface
Felt
18 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Humboldt County, 17 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Bald Mountain-Big Lagoon fault, under 1 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 2490 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 37 km (23 mi) from the epicentre. In Blue Lake, 13 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.

Likely felt in: Bayside 19 km, intensity II · Willow Creek 20 km, intensity II · McKinleyville 25 km, intensity II · Eureka 28 km, intensity II · Humboldt Hill 33 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,800 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 190,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 8,500× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,800 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.9× more

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 280 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 The 1980 Eureka, California Earthquake · 46 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 The 1932 Eureka, California Earthquake · 40 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 The 1954 Eureka-Arcata, California Earthquake · 5 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 Near Rio Dell, California · 49 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 Near Eureka, California · 15 km WSW 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 40.8485, -123.8388. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humboldt County, CA 17 km (11 mi) SSW earthquakes near Humboldt County
Trinity County, CA 65 km (40 mi) ESE earthquakes near Trinity County
Del Norte County, CA 101 km (63 mi) N earthquakes near Del Norte County
Siskiyou County, CA 137 km (85 mi) NE earthquakes near Siskiyou County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 14km ESE of Pine Hills, CA
  2. 1.8 16km NW of Bayview, CA
  3. 1.8 13km E of Willow Creek, CA
  4. 1.9 13km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
  5. 1.6 21km ESE of Rio Dell, CA
  6. 2.0 23km NNW of Hayfork, CA
  7. 2.3 27km SE of Willow Creek, CA
  8. 2.1 7km SE of Willow Creek, CA
  9. 1.8 10km NE of Hydesville, CA
  10. 1.8 19km E of Willow Creek, CA
  11. 1.9 3km NE of Hydesville, CA
  12. 1.8 3km NE of Hydesville, CA
  13. 1.9 4km NE of Hydesville, CA
  14. 2.1 1km SE of Humboldt Hill, CA
  15. 2.2 18km 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.