Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Santa Rosa, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Rosa in the 24 hours to 3:09 am PST (11:09 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 5 km (3 mi) NE, at 2:01 pm PDT on 23 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Rosa
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) east of Santa Rosa, CA, at 9:53 am PST on 1 March 2021 (17:53 UTC), 12 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 5km ESE of St. Helena, CA
78 km (49 mi) N of San Francisco, CA · 23 km (14 mi) NNW of Napa, CA
- When
- 9:53 am PST on 1 March 2021 ()
- Where
- 26 km (16 mi) east of Santa Rosa, CA · earthquakes near Santa Rosa
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Napa County, 8 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- West Napa fault, 4 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 2079 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Santa Rosa, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Santa Rosa, 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 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Rosa, 26 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: Saint Helena, Deer Park, Yountville, Angwin, Kenwood, Eldridge.
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 4.2 on 2018-01-18 — about 5,100 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 31 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 49 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 39 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.3 Northern California · 40 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 38.4818, -122.4172. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Napa County, CA | 8 km (5 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | W | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Solano County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Yolo County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Yolo County |
| Marin County, CA | 56 km (35 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Marin County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 75 km (46 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
41 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 10km WNW of Calistoga, CA
- 1.5 1km WNW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.7 5km W of Cobb, CA
- 1.8 3km NNW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.9 3km NNW of The Geysers, CA
- 3.1 5km W of Cobb, CA
- 2.0 4km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 2.0 4km SSW of Anderson Springs, CA
- 1.5 4km WNW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.9 4km SW of Anderson Springs, CA
- 1.8 6km WNW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.7 5km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.8 11km ENE of Yountville, CA
- 2.8 10km ENE of Yountville, CA
- 1.8 4km SSW of Anderson Springs, 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.