QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

Earthquake near Crescent City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Crescent City in the 24 hours to 11:43 pm PST (07:43 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 162 km (101 mi) WNW, at 2:55 am PDT on 6 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Crescent City

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) southeast of Crescent City, CA, at 10:24 pm PDT on 5 October 2020 (05:24 UTC), 32 km deep. 7 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 14km SE of Klamath, CA

10:24 pm PDT, Oct 5, 2020 · · 32 km deep · released about 1,200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Crescent City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Del Norte County 35 kmHumboldt County 81 kmJosephine County 109 kmTrinity County 110 kmSiskiyou County 116 kmCurry County 117 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
10:24 pm PDT on 5 October 2020 ()
Where
43 km (27 mi) southeast of Crescent City, CA · earthquakes near Crescent City
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
32 km below the surface
Felt
7 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Del Norte County, 35 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2160 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Crescent City, 43 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,200 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.3× more

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 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 7.2 The 1980 Eureka, California Earthquake · 46 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 5 km NNE of Hiouchi, California · 46 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 26 km NNW of Willow Creek, California · 34 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 4 km NE of Fieldbrook, California · 49 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 4 km NE of Fieldbrook, California · 49 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 41.4370, -123.9113. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Del Norte County, CA 35 km (22 mi) N earthquakes near Del Norte County
Humboldt County, CA 81 km (50 mi) S earthquakes near Humboldt County
Josephine County, OR 109 km (68 mi) NNE earthquakes near Josephine County
Trinity County, CA 110 km (69 mi) SE earthquakes near Trinity County
Siskiyou County, CA 116 km (72 mi) E earthquakes near Siskiyou County
Curry County, OR 117 km (73 mi) NNW earthquakes near Curry County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 8 km ESE of Westhaven-Moonstone, CA
  2. 2.1 6 km NW of Somes Bar, CA
  3. 2.4 14 km SSW of Crescent City, CA
  4. 2.3 17 km NNW of Trinidad, CA
  5. 2.1 12 km NE of Westhaven-Moonstone, CA
  6. 2.5 14 km SSW of Bertsch-Oceanview, CA
  7. 2.8 18 km SSE of Klamath, CA
  8. 2.7 13 km SSW of Bertsch-Oceanview, CA
  9. 1.6 18 km W of Happy Camp, California
  10. 2.2 6 km W of Klamath, CA
  11. 2.5 17 km SSE of Klamath, CA
  12. 3.0 17 km SSE of Klamath, CA
  13. 2.5 14 km NW of Trinidad, CA
  14. 2.4 26 km SW of Klamath, CA
  15. 4.3 16 km WSW of Klamath, 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.