QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Yountville, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Yountville in the 24 hours to 4:33 pm PST (00:33 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 19 km (12 mi) SSE, at 10:47 am PDT on 6 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Yountville

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 15 km (10 mi) east-northeast of Yountville, CA, at 5:37 am PDT on 20 August 2020 (12:37 UTC), 9.2 km deep.

USGS: 15km ENE of Yountville, CA

79 km (49 mi) NNE of San Francisco, CA · 21 km (13 mi) NNE of Napa, CA

5:37 am PDT, Aug 20, 2020 · · 9.2 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Napa County 11 kmSolano County 32 kmYolo County 35 kmSonoma County 63 kmContra Costa County 65 kmMarin County 66 kmSacramento County 75 kmSutter County 77 kmColusa County 79 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
5:37 am PDT on 20 August 2020 ()
Where
15 km (10 mi) east-northeast of Yountville, CA · earthquakes near Yountville
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
9.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Napa County, 11 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Green Valley fault, 3 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 2268 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Yountville, 15 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: Napa, Winters, Vacaville, Allendale, Hartley, Saint Helena.

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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 30 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 33 km SE 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 38.4683, -122.2057. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Napa County, CA 11 km (7 mi) WNW earthquakes near Napa County
Solano County, CA 32 km (20 mi) SE earthquakes near Solano County
Yolo County, CA 35 km (22 mi) NE earthquakes near Yolo County
Sonoma County, CA 63 km (39 mi) W earthquakes near Sonoma County
Contra Costa County, CA 65 km (40 mi) SSE earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Marin County, CA 66 km (41 mi) SW earthquakes near Marin County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 8km N of Pittsburg, CA
  2. 2.0 4km N of Larkfield-Wikiup, CA
  3. 1.5 3km NNW of Benicia, CA
  4. 1.8 2km S of Angwin, CA
  5. 1.7 10km ENE of Hidden Valley Lake, CA
  6. 1.7 6km SW of Yountville, CA
  7. 2.3 14km E of Angwin, CA
  8. 1.6 8km W of Calistoga, CA
  9. 2.1 6km SSW of Yountville, CA
  10. 1.6 14km E of Angwin, CA
  11. 2.0 13km ESE of Angwin, CA
  12. 3.5 13km E of Angwin, CA
  13. 1.5 15km E of Angwin, CA
  14. 1.6 15km E of Angwin, CA
  15. 1.8 5km NNE of Black Point-Green Point, 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.