Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Red Bluff, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Red Bluff in the 24 hours to 7:53 am PST (15:53 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 97 km (60 mi) SW, at 5:01 am PDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Red Bluff
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) northeast of Red Bluff, CA, at 2:11 am PST on 27 February 2020 (10:11 UTC), 9.5 km deep.
USGS: 18km NE of Red Bluff, CA
62 km (38 mi) NNW of Chico, CA · 41 km (25 mi) SE of Redding, CA
- When
- 2:11 am PST on 27 February 2020 ()
- Where
- 18 km (11 mi) northeast of Red Bluff, CA · earthquakes near Red Bluff
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 9.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Tehama County, 22 km SW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2449 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Red Bluff, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Red Bluff, 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Red Bluff, 18 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: Gerber, Anderson, Shingletown, Los Molinos.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9.6 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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:
- 5.1 7km NW of Redding, CA · 48 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 40.2788, -122.0717. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tehama County, CA | 22 km (14 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Shasta County, CA | 54 km (33 mi) | N | earthquakes near Shasta County |
| Butte County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Butte County |
| Glenn County, CA | 80 km (50 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Trinity County, CA | 97 km (60 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Plumas County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Plumas County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 19km NW of Viola, CA
- 1.8 16km NNW of Shingletown, CA
- 1.7 18km ESE of Anderson, CA
- 2.8 19km WSW of Manton, CA
- 2.4 6km ESE of Red Bluff, CA
- 1.6 13km ESE of Millville, CA
- 1.7 27km ENE of Los Molinos, CA
- 2.0 10km N of Viola, CA
- 2.0 21km NE of Red Bluff, CA
- 1.5 10km N of Viola, CA
- 1.8 12km NNE of Shingletown, CA
- 2.1 10km N of Viola, CA
- 2.8 10km N of Viola, CA
- 1.6 12km NE of Bella Vista, CA
- 2.0 20km SSW of Manton, 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.