Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5md
Earthquake near Kelseyville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Kelseyville in the 24 hours to 1:43 pm PST (21:43 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 22 km (14 mi) SSE, at 4:44 pm PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Kelseyville
This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) south-southwest of Kelseyville, CA, at 6:00 am PST on 29 January 2021 (14:00 UTC), 4.5 km deep. 10 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 8km SSW of Kelseyville, CA
54 km (34 mi) NNW of Santa Rosa, CA · 133 km (82 mi) NNW of San Francisco, CA
- When
- 6:00 am PST on 29 January 2021 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) south-southwest of Kelseyville, CA · earthquakes near Kelseyville
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (md)
- Depth
- 4.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- 10 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Lake County, 24 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Big Valley fault, 8 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 2036 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Kelseyville, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Kelseyville, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Kelseyville, 8 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Lakeport 15 km, intensity II · Cloverdale 17 km, intensity II · Cobb 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 180 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 83,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 59,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.2× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 5.1 on 2016-08-10 — about 7,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 29 km NW 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 38.9152, -122.8808. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake County, CA | 24 km (15 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 44 km (27 mi) | S | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Colusa County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Napa County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Mendocino County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Glenn County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 8km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.8 1km WNW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.8 3km SE of The Geysers, CA
- 1.6 3km SW of Cobb, CA
- 2.2 8km WNW of Cobb, CA
- 1.7 8km NE of Windsor, CA
- 1.6 8km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.6 2km N of The Geysers, CA
- 1.7 1km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.5 4km W of Cobb, CA
- 1.8 6km WNW of Cobb, CA
- 1.5 5km E of Clearlake Oaks, CA
- 1.6 8km WNW of The Geysers, CA
- 2.2 10km ESE of Hidden Valley Lake, CA
- 2.1 5km WNW of Cobb, 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.