Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Laytonville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Laytonville in the 24 hours to 4:44 am PST (12:44 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 13 km (8 mi) WSW, at 7:25 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Laytonville
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Laytonville, CA, at 9:50 am PDT on 8 May 2021 (16:50 UTC), 9.7 km deep.
USGS: 3km ENE of Laytonville, CA
- When
- 9:50 am PDT on 8 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Laytonville, CA · earthquakes near Laytonville
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 9.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 30 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Maacama fault, 5 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 2011 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Laytonville, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Laytonville, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Laytonville, 3 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: Laytonville 3 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 14 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 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 760,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 68× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 6,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 26 km WNW 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 39.7023, -123.4498. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 30 km (19 mi) | S | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Lake County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Glenn County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | E | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Trinity County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Tehama County, CA | 114 km (71 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Humboldt County, CA | 119 km (74 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 12km N of Laytonville, CA
- 1.7 10km SSE of Laytonville, CA
- 1.6 12km N of Brooktrails, CA
- 1.6 9km SSE of Redway, CA
- 2.3 6km E of Willits, CA
- 1.6 6km S of Fort Bragg, CA
- 1.7 4km NW of Redwood Valley, CA
- 1.8 7km W of Laytonville, CA
- 2.4 11km W of Laytonville, CA
- 1.6 7km ENE of Brooktrails, CA
- 1.5 16km SSW of Willits, CA
- 1.5 8km ESE of Willits, CA
- 2.0 15km WNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 1.8 8km ESE of Redway, CA
- 1.5 8km SSE of Laytonville, 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.