Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Willits, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Willits in the 24 hours to 9:56 pm PST (05:56 UTC). The last one was M 1.5, 9 km (5 mi) ESE, at 10:30 pm PST on 2 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Willits
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) northeast of Willits, CA, at 2:49 pm PDT on 21 August 2020 (21:49 UTC), 8.4 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 20km NW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- When
- 2:49 pm PDT on 21 August 2020 ()
- Where
- 22 km (14 mi) northeast of Willits, CA · earthquakes near Willits
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 8.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 27 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Bartlett Springs fault system, 10 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 2269 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Willits, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Willits, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 Willits, 22 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: Brooktrails, Redwood Valley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.2 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 210,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 45 km S 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 39.5213, -123.1452. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Lake County, CA | 57 km (36 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Glenn County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | E | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Colusa County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Tehama County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | S | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 13km NW of Covelo, CA
- 1.6 10km NW of Covelo, CA
- 3.0 21km NNW of Boonville, CA
- 1.7 9km N of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 2.1 12km NW of Covelo, CA
- 2.7 12km WNW of Covelo, CA
- 1.6 13km NW of Covelo, CA
- 1.5 12km NW of Covelo, CA
- 1.8 12km WNW of Covelo, CA
- 1.7 13km NW of Covelo, CA
- 1.5 12km NW of Covelo, CA
- 1.7 12km NW of Covelo, CA
- 3.1 12km NW of Covelo, CA
- 1.9 12km NW of Covelo, CA
- 3.0 13km NW of Covelo, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.