QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Laytonville, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Laytonville in the 24 hours to 5:36 pm PST (01:36 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 13 km (8 mi) WSW, at 7:25 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Laytonville

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) north of Laytonville, CA, at 9:17 am PDT on 26 October 2020 (16:17 UTC), 6.4 km deep.

USGS: 13km N of Laytonville, CA

9:17 am PDT, Oct 26, 2020 · · 6.4 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mendocino County 41 kmGlenn County 94 kmTrinity County 98 kmLake County 99 kmHumboldt County 108 kmTehama County 111 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
9:17 am PDT on 26 October 2020 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) north of Laytonville, CA · earthquakes near Laytonville
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
6.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mendocino County, 41 km S
Nearest mapped fault
Maacama fault, 8 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 2201 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Laytonville, 13 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: Covelo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 4.3 on 2017-12-14 — about 7,200 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 23 km W 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 39.8037, -123.4648. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mendocino County, CA 41 km (26 mi) S earthquakes near Mendocino County
Glenn County, CA 94 km (58 mi) ESE earthquakes near Glenn County
Trinity County, CA 98 km (61 mi) NNE earthquakes near Trinity County
Lake County, CA 99 km (62 mi) SE earthquakes near Lake County
Humboldt County, CA 108 km (67 mi) NNW earthquakes near Humboldt County
Tehama County, CA 111 km (69 mi) ENE earthquakes near Tehama County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 11km NW of Covelo, CA
  2. 1.8 13km NNE of Brooktrails, CA
  3. 1.6 7km ENE of Laytonville, CA
  4. 2.0 12km SE of Laytonville, CA
  5. 1.5 7km NE of Laytonville, CA
  6. 1.9 2km NW of Redway, CA
  7. 1.7 12km SE of Laytonville, CA
  8. 1.6 10km NNE of Brooktrails, CA
  9. 1.6 11km SE of Laytonville, CA
  10. 1.8 12km SE of Laytonville, CA
  11. 2.3 12km NNW of Covelo, CA
  12. 3.0 20km NNE of Rockport, CA
  13. 2.1 20km NNE of Rockport, CA
  14. 1.8 4km N of Laytonville, CA
  15. 1.6 14km SSE 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.