Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Lower Lake, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Lower Lake in the 24 hours to 3:31 pm PST (23:31 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 19 km (12 mi) SW, at 4:44 pm PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Lower Lake
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) east of Lower Lake, CA, at 9:45 am PDT on 19 May 2021 (16:45 UTC), 4.8 km deep.
USGS: 14km E of Lower Lake, CA
57 km (36 mi) NNE of Santa Rosa, CA · 127 km (79 mi) N of San Francisco, CA
- When
- 9:45 am PDT on 19 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 14 km (9 mi) east of Lower Lake, CA · earthquakes near Lower Lake
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 4.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lake County, 33 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Hunting Creek-Berryessa fault system, under 1 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 2002 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Lower Lake, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Lower Lake, 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 Lower Lake, 14 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: Hidden Valley Lake, Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Middletown, Clear Lake Riviera, Cobb.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 5.0 on 2016-12-14 — about 180,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 38.9207, -122.4518. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake County, CA | 33 km (20 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Colusa County, CA | 34 km (21 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Napa County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Yolo County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Yolo County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 60 km (37 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Sutter County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Sutter 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.
- 1.6 14km ESE of Angwin, CA
- 2.1 10km ESE of Angwin, CA
- 1.8 7km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.7 3km WSW of Anderson Springs, CA
- 1.5 8km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 3.0 9km WNW of The Geysers, CA
- 4.0 7km WNW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.8 16km NE of Upper Lake, CA
- 1.6 8km WNW of The Geysers, CA
- 4.0 7km WNW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.8 8km W of Cobb, CA
- 1.5 4km W of Cobb, CA
- 1.5 7km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.6 3km NNW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.5 7km 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
- 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.