Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8md
Earthquake near Portola, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Portola in the 24 hours to 11:59 pm PST (07:59 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 8 km (5 mi) N, at 8:16 am PST on 10 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 9 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Portola
This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) north-northwest of Portola, CA, at 11:24 pm PST on 17 February 2020 (07:24 UTC), 9.4 km deep. 17 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 8km WNW of Lake Davis, CA
73 km (45 mi) NW of Reno, NV
- When
- 11:24 pm PST on 17 February 2020 ()
- Where
- 13 km (8 mi) north-northwest of Portola, CA · earthquakes near Portola
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (md)
- Depth
- 9.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- 17 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Plumas County, 25 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mohawk Valley fault, 12 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 2386 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Portola, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Portola, 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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Portola, 13 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: Portola 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 420 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 36,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 26,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.3× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.8 about 420 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 4.5 on 2016-08-04 — about 380 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 6 km NNE of Doyle, California · 46 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.6 5 km NE of Loyalton, California · 37 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.3 4 km S of Doyle, California · 39 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.2 3 km N of Blairsden, California · 12 km SSW 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 39.9102, -120.5558. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumas County, CA | 25 km (15 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Plumas County |
| Sierra County, CA | 37 km (23 mi) | S | earthquakes near Sierra County |
| Nevada County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Nevada County |
| Lassen County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | N | earthquakes near Lassen County |
| Butte County, CA | 94 km (58 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Butte County |
| Placer County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | S | earthquakes near Placer County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
34 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 3km WSW of Whitehawk, CA
- 1.7 2 km ENE of East Quincy, California
- 1.8 3 km SSE of Sattley, California
- 2.1 18km WSW of Loyalton, CA
- 2.7 10km SSE of Beckwourth, CA
- 2.0 16km SW of Loyalton, CA
- 2.0 6km N of Greenhorn, CA
- 1.8 3km N of Spring Garden, CA
- 2.4 1km NE of Twain, CA
- 1.5 4km N of Twain, CA
- 1.6 3km NW of Greenville, CA
- 1.5 7km NW of Indian Falls, CA
- 2.5 5km NNE of East Quincy, CA
- 1.9 5km NE of Greenhorn, CA
- 2.5 4km NE of Greenhorn, 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.