QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Burney, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Burney in the 24 hours to 2:09 am PST (10:09 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 11 km (7 mi) ESE, at 3:08 am PDT on 17 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Burney

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) west of Burney, CA, at 5:34 am PST on 8 February 2020 (13:34 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 2km NE of Montgomery Creek, CA

50 km (31 mi) NE of Redding, CA · 122 km (76 mi) N of Chico, CA

5:34 am PST, Feb 8, 2020 · · 18 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Shasta County 16 kmTehama County 85 kmSiskiyou County 97 kmTrinity County 105 kmLassen County 109 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
5:34 am PST on 8 February 2020 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) west of Burney, CA · earthquakes near Burney
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Shasta County, 16 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Rocky Ledge fault, 23 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 2465 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Burney, 21 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
  4. 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 7km NW of Redding, CA · 50 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 40.8520, -121.9023. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Shasta County, CA 16 km (10 mi) SW earthquakes near Shasta County
Tehama County, CA 85 km (53 mi) SSW earthquakes near Tehama County
Siskiyou County, CA 97 km (61 mi) NNW earthquakes near Siskiyou County
Trinity County, CA 105 km (65 mi) WSW earthquakes near Trinity County
Lassen County, CA 109 km (68 mi) E earthquakes near Lassen County
Modoc County, CA 129 km (80 mi) NE earthquakes near Modoc County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 12km NNE of Shingletown, CA
  2. 2.0 10km N of Viola, CA
  3. 2.1 10km N of Viola, CA
  4. 2.8 10km N of Viola, CA
  5. 2.0 10km N of Viola, CA
  6. 1.8 9km E of McCloud, CA
  7. 1.8 26km N of Shasta Lake, CA
  8. 1.6 12km NE of Bella Vista, CA
  9. 1.7 14km S of Dunsmuir, CA
  10. 1.7 20km ESE of McCloud, CA
  11. 2.0 18km ESE of McCloud, CA
  12. 1.9 13km S of Dunsmuir, CA
  13. 1.7 9km NE of Shasta Lake, CA
  14. 2.3 16km ESE of McCloud, CA
  15. 1.6 12km NE of Bella Vista, 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.