Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3md
Earthquake near Laytonville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Laytonville in the 24 hours to 11:56 pm PST (07:56 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 2.3 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) north of Laytonville, CA, at 12:53 am PDT on 12 May 2021 (07:53 UTC), 8.1 km deep.
USGS: 26km N of Laytonville, CA
- When
- 12:53 am PDT on 12 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 26 km (16 mi) north of Laytonville, CA · earthquakes near Laytonville
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (md)
- Depth
- 8.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 55 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Bartlett Springs fault system, 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 2009 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Laytonville, CA
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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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Laytonville, 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: Covelo.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 72 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 210,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 150,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 72 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 2017-12-14 — about 1,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 25 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km ESE of Shelter Cove, California · 43 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 39.9223, -123.5055. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | S | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Trinity County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Humboldt County, CA | 94 km (59 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Glenn County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Tehama County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Lake County, CA | 112 km (69 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lake County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 13km SE of Laytonville, CA
- 2.0 13km WSW of Laytonville, CA
- 2.1 14km WSW of Laytonville, CA
- 1.6 5km NW of Redway, CA
- 1.9 8km SSE of Redway, CA
- 2.0 8km SSE of Redway, CA
- 1.9 12km SE of Covelo, CA
- 2.3 14km SE of Rockport, CA
- 2.1 6km SW of Laytonville, CA
- 1.6 14km NNE of Brooktrails, CA
- 1.5 8km NNW of Laytonville, CA
- 2.3 8km NW of Laytonville, CA
- 2.4 22km N of Laytonville, CA
- 1.9 7km NW of Laytonville, CA
- 1.8 0km SW 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.