QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near McKinleyville, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in McKinleyville in the 24 hours to 3:54 am PST (11:54 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 139 km (86 mi) WSW, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near McKinleyville

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 45 km (28 mi) northeast of McKinleyville, CA, at 2:32 pm PDT on 15 April 2020 (21:32 UTC), 28 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 11km NNW of Weitchpec, CA

2:32 pm PDT, Apr 15, 2020 · · 28 km deep · released about 91 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near McKinleyville Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Del Norte County 56 kmHumboldt County 64 kmTrinity County 89 kmSiskiyou 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
2:32 pm PDT on 15 April 2020 ()
Where
45 km (28 mi) northeast of McKinleyville, CA · earthquakes near McKinleyville
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
28 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Del Norte County, 56 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2393 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 McKinleyville, 45 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 91 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 91 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 4.4 on 2019-02-06 — about 1,300 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 The 1980 Eureka, California Earthquake · 43 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 The 1954 Eureka-Arcata, California Earthquake · 48 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 26 km NNW of Willow Creek, California · 14 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 3 km SSE of McKinleyville, California · 47 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 4 km NE of Fieldbrook, California · 36 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 41.2717, -123.7768. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Del Norte County, CA 56 km (35 mi) NNW earthquakes near Del Norte County
Humboldt County, CA 64 km (40 mi) SSW earthquakes near Humboldt County
Trinity County, CA 89 km (55 mi) SE earthquakes near Trinity County
Siskiyou County, CA 109 km (68 mi) ENE earthquakes near Siskiyou County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 21km ESE of Weitchpec, CA
  2. 3.6 6km E of McKinleyville, CA
  3. 2.3 15km E of Willow Creek, CA
  4. 2.4 17km ENE of Willow Creek, CA
  5. 2.0 7km W of Willow Creek, CA
  6. 2.4 14km E of Willow Creek, CA
  7. 2.3 28km ENE of Willow Creek, CA
  8. 2.4 7km S of Somes Bar, CA
  9. 3.2 16km WSW of Weitchpec, CA
  10. 3.0 12km SSW of Somes Bar, CA
  11. 2.0 10km NNW of Willow Creek, CA
  12. 2.0 25 km E of Klamath, California
  13. 2.5 5km SSE of Weitchpec, CA
  14. 2.7 6km S of Weitchpec, CA
  15. 2.7 21km WNW of Weitchpec, 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.