QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

4km NNE of Belden, CA

· 4.1 km deep · released about 9 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Plumas County 34 kmButte County 53 kmSierra County 79 kmYuba County 86 kmTehama County 86 kmLassen County 91 kmNevada County 91 kmShasta County 106 kmGlenn County 112 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
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
4.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Plumas County, 34 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2313 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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.

Where

Epicentre 40.0400, -121.2240. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Plumas County, CA 34 km (21 mi) W of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Butte County, CA 53 km (33 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Butte County
Sierra County, CA 79 km (49 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Yuba County, CA 86 km (54 mi) N of here earthquakes near Yuba County
Tehama County, CA 86 km (54 mi) E of here earthquakes near Tehama County
Lassen County, CA 91 km (56 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Lassen County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 2 km ENE of East Quincy, California
  2. 1.5 11km SW of Chester, CA
  3. 2.6 4km NNE of Almanor, CA
  4. 1.5 6km NNE of Almanor, CA
  5. 2.0 8km NNW of Chester, CA
  6. 1.5 7km ENE of Mineral, CA
  7. 1.6 3km S of Canyondam, CA
  8. 1.7 12km SE of Mineral, CA
  9. 2.0 6km N of Greenhorn, CA
  10. 1.8 3km N of Spring Garden, CA
  11. 1.9 8km NW of Chester, CA
  12. 2.2 9km NW of Chester, CA
  13. 1.9 9km NW of Chester, CA
  14. 2.4 1km NE of Twain, CA
  15. 1.5 4km N of Twain, 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.