QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Humboldt Hill, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Humboldt Hill in the 24 hours to 11:48 pm PST (07:48 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 123 km (76 mi) WSW, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Humboldt Hill

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 23 km (15 mi) west of Humboldt Hill, CA, at 9:57 pm PST on 10 December 2020 (05:57 UTC), 24 km deep.

USGS: 24km W of Humboldt Hill, CA

9:57 pm PST, Dec 10, 2020 · · 24 km deep · released about 79 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Humboldt Hill Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humboldt County 46 kmTrinity County 115 kmDel Norte County 119 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
9:57 pm PST on 10 December 2020 ()
Where
23 km (15 mi) west of Humboldt Hill, CA · earthquakes near Humboldt Hill
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
24 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humboldt County, 46 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Little Salmon fault, 20 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 2155 days ago

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 Humboldt Hill, 23 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: Bayview, Ferndale, Eureka, Pine Hills, Cutten, Myrtletown.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 79 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 190,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 79 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 5.2 on 2020-03-18 — about 25,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 33 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 The 1980 Eureka, California Earthquake · 45 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 32 km SW of Ferndale, California · 41 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.5 The 1932 Eureka, California Earthquake · 15 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.5 30 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 36 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.5 The 2010 Eureka, California Earthquake · 22 km WSW 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 40.7477, -124.4672. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humboldt County, CA 46 km (28 mi) E earthquakes near Humboldt County
Trinity County, CA 115 km (71 mi) E earthquakes near Trinity County
Del Norte County, CA 119 km (74 mi) NNE earthquakes near Del Norte 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. 2.8 11km NW of Eureka, CA
  2. 1.8 18km WNW of Ferndale, CA
  3. 1.9 24km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  4. 2.6 32km WNW of Ferndale, CA
  5. 2.0 7km N of Ferndale, CA
  6. 1.6 14km SW of Ferndale, CA
  7. 2.5 10km WNW of Humboldt Hill, CA
  8. 2.7 18km W of Petrolia, CA
  9. 2.6 38km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  10. 3.5 17km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  11. 2.6 30km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  12. 2.1 15km NW of Petrolia, CA
  13. 2.5 18km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  14. 3.0 27km W of Petrolia, CA
  15. 2.2 19km W of Petrolia, 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.