QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Hayfork, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Hayfork in the 24 hours to 11:35 pm PST (07:35 UTC). The last one was M 3.7, 42 km (26 mi) W, at 2:44 pm PDT on 7 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 15 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Hayfork

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) west of Hayfork, CA, at 2:05 am PDT on 22 April 2020 (09:05 UTC), 7.4 km deep.

USGS: 28km W of Hayfork, CA

2:05 am PDT, Apr 22, 2020 · · 7.4 km deep · released about 9 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Trinity County 37 kmHumboldt County 40 kmTehama County 118 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
2:05 am PDT on 22 April 2020 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) west of Hayfork, CA · earthquakes near Hayfork
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
7.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Trinity County, 37 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2386 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Hayfork, 29 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 9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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 4.8 on 2016-07-21 — about 55,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.4 The 1954 Eureka-Arcata, California Earthquake · 48 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.6 15 km SW of Burnt Ranch, California · 23 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 3 km NNW of Burnt Ranch, California · 35 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 2 km E of Rio Dell, California · 48 km W 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 40.5218, -123.5177. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Trinity County, CA 37 km (23 mi) ENE earthquakes near Trinity County
Humboldt County, CA 40 km (25 mi) WNW earthquakes near Humboldt County
Tehama County, CA 118 km (73 mi) ESE earthquakes near Tehama County
Glenn County, CA 140 km (87 mi) SE earthquakes near Glenn County
Siskiyou County, CA 144 km (90 mi) NE earthquakes near Siskiyou County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 29km NNW of Hayfork, CA
  2. 2.1 22km NNW of Hayfork, CA
  3. 1.8 22km ESE of Rio Dell, CA
  4. 1.6 2km N of Redway, CA
  5. 1.7 31km ENE of Hydesville, CA
  6. 1.7 24km ENE of Hydesville, CA
  7. 2.6 9km ENE of Hydesville, CA
  8. 1.7 16km SE of Rio Dell, CA
  9. 1.7 6km E of Hydesville, CA
  10. 2.9 23km ESE of Rio Dell, CA
  11. 1.9 20km NNE of Redway, CA
  12. 1.7 26km NE of Redway, CA
  13. 1.6 12km SSE of Rio Dell, CA
  14. 2.3 15km WSW of Willow Creek, CA
  15. 2.1 28km ENE of Redway, 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.