Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Laytonville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Laytonville in the 24 hours to 1:36 am PST (09:36 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 12 km (7 mi) southeast of Laytonville, CA, at 10:40 am PST on 26 December 2020 (18:40 UTC), 8.2 km deep.
USGS: 12km SE of Laytonville, CA
- When
- 10:40 am PST on 26 December 2020 ()
- Where
- 12 km (7 mi) southeast of Laytonville, CA · earthquakes near Laytonville
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 8.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 21 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Maacama fault, 7 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 2137 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Laytonville, CA
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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 Laytonville, 12 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: Brooktrails, Covelo, Willits.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
- 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 2019-04-29 — about 9,100 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 · 35 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 39.6167, -123.3825. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 21 km (13 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Lake County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Glenn County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | E | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Colusa County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Tehama County, CA | 113 km (70 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Trinity County, CA | 117 km (73 mi) | N | earthquakes near Trinity County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 12km N of Brooktrails, CA
- 1.7 4km S of Redwood Valley, CA
- 1.8 2km N of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 1.6 26km N of Laytonville, CA
- 1.5 10km ESE of Willits, CA
- 1.7 7km E of Willits, CA
- 1.6 10km SE of Laytonville, CA
- 2.4 10km SE of Willits, CA
- 1.6 20km SSW of Willits, CA
- 2.8 21km SSW of Willits, CA
- 4.0 21km SSW of Willits, CA
- 1.5 22km E of Navarro Head, CA
- 2.0 13km WNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 2.7 13km W of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 1.9 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.