Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0md
Earthquake near Redwood Valley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Redwood Valley in the 24 hours to 7:21 am PST (15:21 UTC). The last one was M 1.5, 7 km (5 mi) SE, at 12:31 pm PST on 11 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Redwood Valley
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) west-northwest of Redwood Valley, CA, at 6:05 pm PDT on 20 April 2020 (01:05 UTC), 5.6 km deep.
USGS: 12km WNW of Redwood Valley, CA
- When
- 6:05 pm PDT on 20 April 2020 ()
- Where
- 12 km (8 mi) west-northwest of Redwood Valley, CA · earthquakes near Redwood Valley
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (md)
- Depth
- 5.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 18 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Maacama 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 2388 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Redwood Valley, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Redwood Valley, 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Redwood Valley, 12 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: Willits 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 31 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 480,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 340,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 31× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 31 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 42,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 29 km SE 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 39.2930, -123.3437. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 18 km (11 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Lake County, CA | 56 km (34 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Glenn County, CA | 88 km (55 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Colusa County, CA | 96 km (60 mi) | E | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Napa County, CA | 124 km (77 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Napa 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.
- 1.5 14km NNE of Brooktrails, CA
- 1.7 21km SE of Covelo, CA
- 2.1 20km NNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 1.6 9km NNW of Redwood Valley, CA
- 1.8 9km E of Redwood Valley, CA
- 2.0 20km NE of Brooktrails, CA
- 1.6 8km NNE of Redwood Valley, CA
- 1.6 15km ESE of Navarro Head, CA
- 1.9 20km NNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 1.9 15km WSW of Lakeport, CA
- 1.8 12km SE of Talmage, CA
- 1.9 18km NW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 2.2 20km NNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 2.5 6km NNE of Fort Bragg, CA
- 1.7 11km SE of Laytonville, 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.