QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Kenwood, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Kenwood in the 24 hours to 5:20 pm PST (01:20 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, in Kenwood, at 12:33 am PDT on 25 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Kenwood

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Kenwood, CA, at 1:31 pm PDT on 15 August 2020 (20:31 UTC), 7.8 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 7km WSW of Kenwood, CA

10 km (6 mi) SE of Santa Rosa, CA

1:31 pm PDT, Aug 15, 2020 · · 7.8 km deep · released about 20 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Napa County 28 kmSonoma County 31 kmMarin County 39 kmSolano County 60 kmYolo County 70 kmContra Costa County 78 kmLake County 81 kmSan Francisco County 82 kmColusa County 94 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
1:31 pm PDT on 15 August 2020 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Kenwood, CA · earthquakes near Kenwood
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
7.8 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Napa County, 28 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Bennett Valley fault, under 1 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 2277 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Kenwood, 7 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: Kenwood 7 km, intensity II · Rohnert Park 9 km, intensity II · Santa Rosa 11 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 20 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 760,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 540,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 48× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 20 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 4.2 on 2018-01-18 — about 3,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 33 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 19 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 Northern California · 20 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 38.3863, -122.6142. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Napa County, CA 28 km (18 mi) ENE earthquakes near Napa County
Sonoma County, CA 31 km (19 mi) WNW earthquakes near Sonoma County
Marin County, CA 39 km (24 mi) SSW earthquakes near Marin County
Solano County, CA 60 km (37 mi) ESE earthquakes near Solano County
Yolo County, CA 70 km (43 mi) ENE earthquakes near Yolo County
Contra Costa County, CA 78 km (48 mi) SE earthquakes near Contra Costa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 2km NE of The Geysers, CA
  2. 2.2 3km NW of Anderson Springs, CA
  3. 1.5 2km W of Cobb, CA
  4. 1.7 4km NW of The Geysers, CA
  5. 1.8 2km NW of The Geysers, CA
  6. 2.6 4km SE of Larkfield-Wikiup, CA
  7. 1.9 6km WNW of The Geysers, CA
  8. 1.5 8km WNW of Yountville, CA
  9. 2.2 3km SW of Anderson Springs, CA
  10. 1.6 6km ESE of Santa Rosa, CA
  11. 1.7 2km ENE of The Geysers, CA
  12. 1.7 2km NW of The Geysers, CA
  13. 2.3 4km NW of The Geysers, CA
  14. 1.8 4km SSE of The Geysers, CA
  15. 1.7 6km E of Santa Rosa, 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.