QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

16km NW of Biggs, CA

· 20 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Butte County 30 kmGlenn County 47 kmColusa County 47 kmYuba County 51 kmSutter County 53 kmTehama County 77 kmLake County 87 kmYolo County 91 kmNevada County 97 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
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Butte County, 30 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2111 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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.

Where

Epicentre 39.4943, -121.8673. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Butte County, CA 30 km (18 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Butte County
Glenn County, CA 47 km (29 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Glenn County
Colusa County, CA 47 km (29 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Colusa County
Yuba County, CA 51 km (32 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Yuba County
Sutter County, CA 53 km (33 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Sutter County
Tehama County, CA 77 km (48 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Tehama County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 18 km E of Willows, CA
  2. 2.6 15 km ENE of Willows, CA
  3. 2.1 18km E of Willows, CA
  4. 2.2 18km E of Willows, CA
  5. 2.1 8km WSW of Durham, CA
  6. 2.3 14km S of Hamilton City, CA
  7. 1.9 3km NW of Chico, CA
  8. 2.1 10km N of Oroville, CA
  9. 2.0 5km SSE of Oroville East, CA
  10. 2.7 2km NW of Chico, CA
  11. 2.1 13km SSE of Willows, CA
  12. 4.2 5km S of Oroville East, CA
  13. 2.6 12km S of Hamilton City, CA
  14. 2.7 5km N of Hamilton City, CA
  15. 2.2 15km SW of Orland, 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.