QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9ml

Earthquake near Redwood Valley, CA

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Redwood Valley in the last 24 hours. M 1.5, 7 km (5 mi) SE of Redwood Valley, at 12:31 pm PST on 11 November 2026 (20:31 UTC); the estimated shaking in Redwood Valley was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Redwood Valley

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Redwood Valley, CA, at 9:14 pm PDT on 25 May 2021 (04:14 UTC), 4.6 km deep. 232 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4km SSE of Redwood Valley, CA

97 km (60 mi) NNW of Santa Rosa, CA

9:14 pm PDT, May 25, 2021 · · 4.6 km deep · released about 680 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mendocino County 32 kmLake County 40 kmGlenn County 79 kmColusa County 82 kmSonoma County 82 kmNapa County 109 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
9:14 pm PDT on 25 May 2021 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Redwood Valley, CA · earthquakes near Redwood Valley
Magnitude
M 2.9 (ml)
Depth
4.6 km below the surface
Felt
232 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Mendocino County, 32 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Maacama fault, 3 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 1929 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 32 km (20 mi) from the epicentre. In Redwood Valley, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Ukiah 9 km, intensity III · Upper Lake 25 km, intensity II · Willits 25 km, intensity II · Brooktrails 29 km, intensity II · Boonville 29 km, intensity II · Lakeport 31 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 5.1 on 2016-08-10 — about 1,900 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 15 km SSE 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 39.2322, -123.1817. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mendocino County, CA 32 km (20 mi) NW earthquakes near Mendocino County
Lake County, CA 40 km (25 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lake County
Glenn County, CA 79 km (49 mi) ENE earthquakes near Glenn County
Colusa County, CA 82 km (51 mi) E earthquakes near Colusa County
Sonoma County, CA 82 km (51 mi) SSE earthquakes near Sonoma County
Napa County, CA 109 km (68 mi) SE earthquakes near Napa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 6km N of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  2. 1.8 16km NE of Upper Lake, CA
  3. 1.9 14km SE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  4. 1.5 10km SE of Willits, CA
  5. 1.9 10km SE of Willits, CA
  6. 1.9 5km SSE of Redwood Valley, CA
  7. 1.9 6km SSE of Redwood Valley, CA
  8. 1.5 16km E of Navarro Head, CA
  9. 1.9 8km NNW of Redwood Valley, CA
  10. 2.0 12km WNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  11. 1.9 4km NNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  12. 1.8 6km E of Willits, CA
  13. 1.8 9km NNW of Redwood Valley, CA
  14. 2.2 7km E of Willits, CA
  15. 1.7 10km SW of Ukiah, 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.