Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Laytonville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Laytonville in the 24 hours to 1:34 am PST (09:34 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) north of Laytonville, CA, at 11:52 pm PST on 6 December 2020 (07:52 UTC), 13 km deep.
USGS: 4km N of Laytonville, CA
- When
- 11:52 pm PST on 6 December 2020 ()
- Where
- 4 km (3 mi) north of Laytonville, CA · earthquakes near Laytonville
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 33 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Maacama fault, 1 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 2165 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Laytonville, CA
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Laytonville, 4 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 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 2019-04-29 — about 7,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 22 km WNW 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 39.7253, -123.4920. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 33 km (20 mi) | S | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Lake County, CA | 94 km (58 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Glenn County, CA | 94 km (59 mi) | E | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Trinity County, CA | 107 km (67 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Humboldt County, CA | 115 km (72 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Tehama County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 8km NNW of Redwood Valley, CA
- 1.5 12km N of Brooktrails, CA
- 1.6 26km N of Laytonville, CA
- 1.5 10km ESE of Willits, CA
- 2.1 11km SSE of Redway, CA
- 1.7 7km E of Willits, CA
- 1.6 10km SE of Laytonville, CA
- 2.4 10km SE of Willits, CA
- 2.0 13km WNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 2.7 13km W of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 1.9 10km ESE of Willits, CA
- 1.8 10km ESE of Willits, CA
- 1.8 22km SE of Covelo, CA
- 1.9 10km NNW of Redwood Valley, CA
- 1.8 10km ESE of Willits, 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.