Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Covelo, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Covelo in the 24 hours to 7:21 am PST (15:21 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) N, at 3:31 pm PST on 10 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Covelo
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) east-northeast of Covelo, CA, at 9:17 pm PST on 16 November 2019 (05:17 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 8km ENE of Covelo, CA
- When
- 9:17 pm PST on 16 November 2019 ()
- Where
- 9 km (5 mi) east-northeast of Covelo, CA · earthquakes near Covelo
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 50 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Bartlett Springs fault system, 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 2542 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Covelo, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Covelo, 9 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 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 4.3 on 2017-12-14 — about 6,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 49 km W 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 39.8278, -123.1593. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Glenn County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Tehama County, CA | 86 km (53 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Lake County, CA | 88 km (54 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Trinity County, CA | 91 km (57 mi) | N | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Colusa County, CA | 107 km (67 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 20km NNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 1.9 41km NE of Covelo, CA
- 1.8 30km NE of Covelo, CA
- 1.7 11km SE of Laytonville, CA
- 2.4 9km W of Covelo, CA
- 1.8 7km NE of Brooktrails, CA
- 1.8 13km SSE of Covelo, CA
- 1.6 20km NE of Brooktrails, CA
- 2.8 15km NW of Laytonville, CA
- 1.6 24km NW of Alder Springs, CA
- 2.6 23km NW of Alder Springs, CA
- 2.0 14km SSE of Laytonville, CA
- 1.7 13km W of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 1.9 13km W of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 1.6 30km NNW of Alder 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
- 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.