Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Boonville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Boonville in the 24 hours to 8:35 am PST (16:35 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 65 km (41 mi) NNE, at 5:01 am PDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Boonville
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Boonville, CA, at 4:24 am PST on 16 November 2020 (12:24 UTC), 5.8 km deep.
USGS: 5km ESE of Boonville, CA
80 km (50 mi) NW of Santa Rosa, CA
- When
- 4:24 am PST on 16 November 2020 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Boonville, CA · earthquakes near Boonville
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 5.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lake County, 50 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Maacama fault, 19 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 2179 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Boonville, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Boonville, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Boonville, 5 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: Boonville 5 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.1 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 5.0 on 2016-12-14 — about 140,000 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 · 23 km NE 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 38.9915, -123.3082. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Mendocino County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 62 km (38 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Colusa County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Napa County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Glenn County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 13km W of Lakeport, CA
- 1.7 13km W of Lakeport, CA
- 1.7 7km ENE of Cloverdale, CA
- 1.5 13km SE of Talmage, CA
- 2.2 13km SE of Talmage, CA
- 1.8 13km SE of Talmage, CA
- 1.5 18km ESE of Boonville, CA
- 1.6 5km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.9 13km W of Lakeport, CA
- 2.1 13km W of Lakeport, CA
- 2.3 13km SE of Talmage, CA
- 4.4 13km W of Lakeport, CA
- 1.9 10km ESE of Willits, CA
- 1.6 6km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 2.1 6km NW of The Geysers, 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.