Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9md
Earthquake near Hamilton City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Hamilton City in the 24 hours to 1:11 pm PST (21:11 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 85 km (53 mi) WSW, at 5:01 am PDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Hamilton City
This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) northeast of Hamilton City, CA, at 3:00 am PST on 18 November 2019 (11:00 UTC), 20 km deep. 6 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 4km NE of Hamilton City, CA
14 km (9 mi) W of Chico, CA
- When
- 3:00 am PST on 18 November 2019 ()
- Where
- 4 km (3 mi) northeast of Hamilton City, CA · earthquakes near Hamilton City
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (md)
- Depth
- 20 km below the surface
- Felt
- 6 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Butte County, 35 km ESE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2550 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hamilton City, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Hamilton City, CA. No account or email needed.
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 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Hamilton City, 4 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: Hamilton City 4 km, intensity II · Chico 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 570 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 27,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 19,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.7× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 570 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 39.7737, -121.9822. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Butte County, CA | 35 km (21 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Butte County |
| Glenn County, CA | 41 km (25 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Tehama County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Colusa County, CA | 70 km (43 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Yuba County, CA | 78 km (49 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Yuba County |
| Sutter County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Sutter County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 2km ENE of Gerber, CA
- 1.9 11km N of Oroville, CA
- 1.7 9km NNE of Los Molinos, CA
- 2.0 7km NE of Los Molinos, CA
- 1.9 12km SE of Los Molinos, CA
- 2.1 15km E of Willows, CA
- 2.3 4km SW of Hamilton City, CA
- 2.4 8km NNW of Hamilton City, CA
- 2.2 6km SE of Corning, CA
- 2.3 6km SE of Corning, CA
- 2.0 4km NE of Hamilton City, CA
- 1.8 5km NNE of Hamilton City, CA
- 1.7 10km S of Hamilton City, CA
- 2.0 10km NNW of Oroville, CA
- 2.5 4km NNE of Hamilton City, 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.