QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Kenwood, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Kenwood in the 24 hours to 10:55 pm PST (06:55 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, in Kenwood, at 12:33 am PDT on 25 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Kenwood

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) northeast of Kenwood, CA, at 3:59 pm PST on 19 January 2020 (23:59 UTC), 6.3 km deep.

USGS: 5km NE of Kenwood, CA

75 km (47 mi) N of San Francisco, CA · 17 km (11 mi) E of Santa Rosa, CA

3:59 pm PST, Jan 19, 2020 · · 6.3 km deep · released about 7.8 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Napa County 17 kmSonoma County 37 kmMarin County 49 kmSolano County 54 kmYolo County 59 kmLake County 76 kmContra Costa County 77 kmColusa County 84 kmSan Francisco County 92 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
3:59 pm PST on 19 January 2020 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) northeast of Kenwood, CA · earthquakes near Kenwood
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
6.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Napa County, 17 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
West Napa fault, 5 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 2479 days ago

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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Kenwood, 5 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: Kenwood 5 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 4.2 on 2018-01-18 — about 8,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 31 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 30 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 Northern California · 31 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 38.4508, -122.5120. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Napa County, CA 17 km (11 mi) ENE earthquakes near Napa County
Sonoma County, CA 37 km (23 mi) WNW earthquakes near Sonoma County
Marin County, CA 49 km (30 mi) SSW earthquakes near Marin County
Solano County, CA 54 km (34 mi) ESE earthquakes near Solano County
Yolo County, CA 59 km (37 mi) ENE earthquakes near Yolo County
Lake County, CA 76 km (47 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lake County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.7 6km WNW of Cobb, CA
  2. 2.8 6km W of Cobb, CA
  3. 2.2 5km NW of The Geysers, CA
  4. 2.1 4km WNW of Cobb, CA
  5. 1.9 7km NW of The Geysers, CA
  6. 2.1 3km W of Anderson Springs, CA
  7. 1.6 7km NW of The Geysers, CA
  8. 2.1 7km NW of The Geysers, CA
  9. 2.8 2km SE of The Geysers, CA
  10. 2.0 1km E of The Geysers, CA
  11. 2.1 10km ESE of Hidden Valley Lake, CA
  12. 2.4 6km NNW of The Geysers, CA
  13. 2.7 2km NE of The Geysers, CA
  14. 1.9 2km SW of Cobb, CA
  15. 1.6 6km WNW of The Geysers, 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.