QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Kelseyville, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Kelseyville in the 24 hours to 11:59 pm PST (07:59 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 22 km (14 mi) SSE, at 4:44 pm PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Kelseyville

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) south-southwest of Kelseyville, CA, at 9:17 am PDT on 13 March 2020 (16:17 UTC), 3.1 km deep.

USGS: 10km SSW of Kelseyville, CA

52 km (32 mi) NNW of Santa Rosa, CA · 130 km (81 mi) NNW of San Francisco, CA

9:17 am PDT, Mar 13, 2020 · · 3.1 km deep · released about 22 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lake County 26 kmSonoma County 41 kmColusa County 63 kmNapa County 64 kmMendocino County 78 kmYolo County 87 kmGlenn County 89 kmMarin County 94 kmSutter County 102 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
9:17 am PDT on 13 March 2020 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) south-southwest of Kelseyville, CA · earthquakes near Kelseyville
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
3.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lake County, 26 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Big Valley fault, 9 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 2434 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Kelseyville, 10 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: Soda Bay, Clear Lake Riviera, Cobb, Cloverdale, Lakeport, North Lakeport.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 22 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 680,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 480,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 43× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 22 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 5.1 on 2016-08-10 — about 59,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 31 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 38.8923, -122.8737. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lake County, CA 26 km (16 mi) NNE earthquakes near Lake County
Sonoma County, CA 41 km (26 mi) S earthquakes near Sonoma County
Colusa County, CA 63 km (39 mi) ENE earthquakes near Colusa County
Napa County, CA 64 km (40 mi) SE earthquakes near Napa County
Mendocino County, CA 78 km (48 mi) NW earthquakes near Mendocino County
Yolo County, CA 87 km (54 mi) ESE earthquakes near Yolo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 7km W of Cobb, CA
  2. 1.7 2km NW of The Geysers, CA
  3. 1.5 1km NNW of The Geysers, CA
  4. 1.6 2km SE of The Geysers, CA
  5. 1.6 2km SE of The Geysers, CA
  6. 2.0 10km NW of The Geysers, CA
  7. 1.8 10km WNW of The Geysers, CA
  8. 1.6 8km NW of The Geysers, CA
  9. 1.6 9km WNW of Cobb, CA
  10. 1.8 3km WNW of Cobb, CA
  11. 2.0 3km SE of The Geysers, CA
  12. 1.7 3km NNW of The Geysers, CA
  13. 2.1 12km S of Boonville, CA
  14. 1.7 3km SW of Cobb, CA
  15. 2.9 3km SE 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.