QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Nice, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Nice in the 24 hours to 8:42 am PST (16:42 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 43 km (27 mi) NNW, at 5:01 am PDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Nice

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) north-northeast of Nice, CA, at 4:25 am PDT on 29 June 2020 (11:25 UTC), 7.8 km deep.

USGS: 18km NNE of Nice, CA

4:25 am PDT, Jun 29, 2020 · · 7.8 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lake County 17 kmColusa County 45 kmGlenn County 48 kmMendocino County 63 kmSonoma County 84 kmNapa County 92 kmSutter County 93 kmYolo County 97 kmTehama County 105 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
4:25 am PDT on 29 June 2020 ()
Where
18 km (11 mi) north-northeast of Nice, CA · earthquakes near Nice
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
7.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lake County, 17 km S
Nearest mapped fault
Bartlett Springs fault system, 4 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 2326 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Nice, 18 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: Upper Lake, North Lakeport, Clearlake Oaks, Lakeport, Soda Bay.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.8 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 2,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 190,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 35 km WSW 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 39.2647, -122.7423. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lake County, CA 17 km (11 mi) S earthquakes near Lake County
Colusa County, CA 45 km (28 mi) ESE earthquakes near Colusa County
Glenn County, CA 48 km (30 mi) NE earthquakes near Glenn County
Mendocino County, CA 63 km (39 mi) WNW earthquakes near Mendocino County
Sonoma County, CA 84 km (52 mi) S earthquakes near Sonoma County
Napa County, CA 92 km (57 mi) SSE 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. 2.1 7km NW of The Geysers, CA
  2. 2.8 7km NW of The Geysers, CA
  3. 2.0 11km NE of Cloverdale, CA
  4. 2.1 20km NNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  5. 1.6 9km NNW of Redwood Valley, CA
  6. 1.6 8km WNW of Cobb, CA
  7. 1.8 9km E of Redwood Valley, CA
  8. 2.5 6km NW of The Geysers, CA
  9. 2.0 6km NW of The Geysers, CA
  10. 2.3 6km NW of The Geysers, CA
  11. 1.6 6km NW of The Geysers, CA
  12. 2.3 5km W of Cobb, CA
  13. 1.6 8km NNE of Redwood Valley, CA
  14. 1.9 3km WNW of Cobb, CA
  15. 1.6 9km WNW of Cobb, 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.