QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Bella Vista, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bella Vista in the 24 hours to 10:12 am PST (18:12 UTC). The last one was M 4.4, 124 km (77 mi) WSW, at 3:21 pm PDT on 5 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 122 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bella Vista

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southeast of Bella Vista, CA, at 3:39 pm PDT on 29 April 2020 (22:39 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 5km SE of Bella Vista, CA

99 km (62 mi) NNW of Chico, CA · 16 km (10 mi) ENE of Redding, CA

3:39 pm PDT, Apr 29, 2020 · · 17 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Shasta County 21 kmTehama County 54 kmTrinity County 79 kmSiskiyou County 113 kmGlenn County 113 kmButte County 116 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
3:39 pm PDT on 29 April 2020 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) southeast of Bella Vista, CA · earthquakes near Bella Vista
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Shasta County, 21 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2387 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 Bella Vista, 5 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: Palo Cedro, Shasta Lake, Redding, Anderson, Shasta, Shingletown.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 870,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 620,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 55× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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:

  1. 5.1 7km NW of Redding, CA · 19 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 40.6085, -122.1843. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Shasta County, CA 21 km (13 mi) NE earthquakes near Shasta County
Tehama County, CA 54 km (33 mi) S earthquakes near Tehama County
Trinity County, CA 79 km (49 mi) W earthquakes near Trinity County
Siskiyou County, CA 113 km (70 mi) NNW earthquakes near Siskiyou County
Glenn County, CA 113 km (70 mi) S earthquakes near Glenn County
Butte County, CA 116 km (72 mi) SSE earthquakes near Butte County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 21km SE of Anderson, CA
  2. 1.6 23km N of Shasta Lake, CA
  3. 2.0 2km ENE of Montgomery Creek, CA
  4. 1.9 28km N of Shasta Lake, CA
  5. 1.6 6km WNW of Palo Cedro, CA
  6. 1.5 12km W of Shingletown, CA
  7. 3.0 13km W of Shingletown, CA
  8. 1.5 16km NNW of Shingletown, CA
  9. 2.1 26km N of Shasta Lake, CA
  10. 2.5 13km N of Viola, CA
  11. 1.9 25km N of Shasta Lake, CA
  12. 1.8 13km NNE of Shingletown, CA
  13. 2.3 15km E of Anderson, CA
  14. 1.6 19km NW of Viola, CA
  15. 2.8 25km NNW of Shasta Lake, 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.