QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near Brooktrails, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Brooktrails in the 24 hours to 1:27 am PST (09:27 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 38 km (23 mi) E, at 5:01 am PDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Brooktrails

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) north-northeast of Brooktrails, CA, at 12:59 am PDT on 20 April 2021 (07:59 UTC), 8.9 km deep.

USGS: 12km NNE of Brooktrails, CA

12:59 am PDT, Apr 20, 2021 · · 8.9 km deep · released about 29 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mendocino County 15 kmLake County 70 kmGlenn County 81 kmColusa County 103 kmTehama County 115 kmSonoma 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
12:59 am PDT on 20 April 2021 ()
Where
12 km (7 mi) north-northeast of Brooktrails, CA · earthquakes near Brooktrails
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
8.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mendocino County, 15 km SW
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 2030 days ago

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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Brooktrails, 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.

Likely felt in: Brooktrails 12 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 29 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 520,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 370,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 33× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 29 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 3,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 43 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 39.5430, -123.3412. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mendocino County, CA 15 km (9 mi) SW earthquakes near Mendocino County
Lake County, CA 70 km (44 mi) SE earthquakes near Lake County
Glenn County, CA 81 km (50 mi) E earthquakes near Glenn County
Colusa County, CA 103 km (64 mi) ESE earthquakes near Colusa County
Tehama County, CA 115 km (71 mi) NE earthquakes near Tehama County
Sonoma County, CA 119 km (74 mi) SSE earthquakes near Sonoma County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 7km ESE of Willits, CA
  2. 2.5 7km ESE of Willits, CA
  3. 1.8 4km NNE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  4. 1.9 4km NNW of Laytonville, CA
  5. 2.2 12km E of Navarro Head, CA
  6. 1.8 10km SE of Willits, CA
  7. 1.6 8km ENE of Willits, CA
  8. 1.8 6km N of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  9. 2.0 11km W of Alder Springs, CA
  10. 1.9 14km SE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  11. 1.5 10km SE of Willits, CA
  12. 1.9 10km SE of Willits, CA
  13. 1.9 5km SSE of Redwood Valley, CA
  14. 1.9 6km SSE of Redwood Valley, CA
  15. 1.5 16km E of Navarro Head, 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.