QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Yountville, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Yountville in the 24 hours to 7:19 pm PST (03:19 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 19 km (12 mi) SSE, at 10:47 am PDT on 6 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Yountville

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Yountville, CA, at 2:15 pm PDT on 23 March 2021 (21:15 UTC), 11 km deep. 42 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 10km ENE of Yountville, CA

15 km (9 mi) NNE of Napa, CA · 73 km (46 mi) N of San Francisco, CA

2:15 pm PDT, Mar 23, 2021 · · 11 km deep · released about 490 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Napa County 11 kmSolano County 33 kmYolo County 42 kmSonoma County 59 kmMarin County 60 kmContra Costa County 62 kmSacramento County 79 kmSutter County 83 kmColusa County 84 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
2:15 pm PDT on 23 March 2021 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Yountville, CA · earthquakes near Yountville
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
42 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Napa County, 11 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Green Valley fault, 2 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 1990 days ago

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 26 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Yountville, 10 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: Napa 15 km, intensity II · Agua Caliente 23 km, intensity II · Angwin 24 km, intensity II · Vacaville 25 km, intensity II · Kenwood 25 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 490 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 31,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 490 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 24 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 34 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 50 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 38.4262, -122.2557. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Napa County, CA 11 km (7 mi) NW earthquakes near Napa County
Solano County, CA 33 km (20 mi) ESE earthquakes near Solano County
Yolo County, CA 42 km (26 mi) NE earthquakes near Yolo County
Sonoma County, CA 59 km (37 mi) W earthquakes near Sonoma County
Marin County, CA 60 km (37 mi) SW earthquakes near Marin County
Contra Costa County, CA 62 km (39 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

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

  1. 1.6 4km W of Kenwood, CA
  2. 1.9 10km SSE of Elmira, CA
  3. 1.6 6km SSW of Calistoga, CA
  4. 1.6 21km ENE of Hidden Valley Lake, CA
  5. 1.6 3km NNW of Angwin, CA
  6. 1.6 6km SSW of Calistoga, CA
  7. 3.3 6km S of Calistoga, CA
  8. 2.5 6km S of Calistoga, CA
  9. 1.6 10km WNW of Calistoga, CA
  10. 1.8 11km ENE of Yountville, 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.