Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3md
Earthquake near Fort Bragg, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Fort Bragg in the 24 hours to 9:20 pm PST (05:20 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 186 km (115 mi) NW, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Fort Bragg
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 49 km (31 mi) north of Fort Bragg, CA, at 7:26 pm PST on 10 January 2020 (03:26 UTC), 5.9 km deep.
USGS: 17km N of Rockport, CA
- When
- 7:26 pm PST on 10 January 2020 ()
- Where
- 49 km (31 mi) north of Fort Bragg, CA · earthquakes near Fort Bragg
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (md)
- Depth
- 5.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 58 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Noyo Basin fault, 14 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 2494 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Fort Bragg, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Fort Bragg, 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 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 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Fort Bragg, 49 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Redway.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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 870 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 13 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km ESE of Shelter Cove, California · 22 km NW 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 39.8880, -123.7822. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Humboldt County, CA | 92 km (57 mi) | N | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Trinity County, CA | 102 km (63 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Glenn County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Lake County, CA | 124 km (77 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lake County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
42 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 21km NNE of Rockport, CA
- 2.2 21km NNE of Rockport, CA
- 1.7 13km ESE of Redway, CA
- 1.7 17km N of Redway, CA
- 2.5 6km NNE of Fort Bragg, CA
- 1.7 11km SE of Laytonville, CA
- 1.7 4km NNW of Redway, CA
- 1.9 4km NNW of Redway, CA
- 2.6 3km NNW of Redway, CA
- 2.6 3km NNW of Redway, CA
- 1.9 14km N of Rockport, CA
- 2.4 9km W of Covelo, CA
- 1.9 21km NNE of Redway, CA
- 2.7 16km SE of Petrolia, CA
- 2.4 5km W of Cape Vizcaino, 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.