QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

Earthquake near Santa Rosa, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Rosa in the 24 hours to 3:36 pm PST (23:36 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 3.1 earthquake was recorded 35 km (22 mi) north of Santa Rosa, CA, at 9:05 pm PDT on 25 April 2021 (04:05 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 18 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 2km SSW of Anderson Springs, CA

34 km (21 mi) N of Santa Rosa, CA · 111 km (69 mi) NNW of San Francisco, CA

9:05 pm PDT, Apr 25, 2021 · · 0.3 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sonoma County 32 kmLake County 40 kmNapa County 43 kmColusa County 62 kmYolo County 70 kmMarin County 78 kmSolano County 85 kmSutter County 92 kmGlenn County 98 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
9:05 pm PDT on 25 April 2021 ()
Where
35 km (22 mi) north of Santa Rosa, CA · earthquakes near Santa Rosa
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
0.3 km below the surface
Felt
18 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Sonoma County, 32 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Maacama fault, 12 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 1954 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 42 km (26 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Rosa, 35 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: Cobb 8 km, intensity III · Healdsburg 22 km, intensity II · Calistoga 22 km, intensity II · Clearlake 24 km, intensity II · Windsor 25 km, intensity II · Cloverdale 28 km, intensity II · Angwin 29 km, intensity II · Santa Rosa 35 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× more

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 5.0 on 2016-12-14 — about 730 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 50 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 Northern California · 49 km SSW 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 38.7537, -122.7000. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sonoma County, CA 32 km (20 mi) SW earthquakes near Sonoma County
Lake County, CA 40 km (25 mi) N earthquakes near Lake County
Napa County, CA 43 km (26 mi) SE earthquakes near Napa County
Colusa County, CA 62 km (38 mi) NE earthquakes near Colusa County
Yolo County, CA 70 km (43 mi) E earthquakes near Yolo County
Marin County, CA 78 km (49 mi) S earthquakes near Marin 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. 1.8 3km NE of The Geysers, CA
  2. 2.0 6km S of Calistoga, CA
  3. 1.7 14km NNE of Angwin, CA
  4. 1.6 15km NNE of Angwin, CA
  5. 2.0 15km NNE of Angwin, CA
  6. 2.2 15km NNE of Angwin, CA
  7. 1.6 10km WNW of The Geysers, CA
  8. 2.2 2km ENE of The Geysers, CA
  9. 1.5 8km NW of The Geysers, CA
  10. 1.8 2km ESE of The Geysers, CA
  11. 3.0 2km ESE of The Geysers, CA
  12. 1.5 8km SE of Middletown, CA
  13. 1.8 7km NW of The Geysers, CA
  14. 2.0 7km NW of The Geysers, CA
  15. 1.9 6km NW of The Geysers, 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.