Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Willits, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Willits in the 24 hours to 6:21 am PST (14:21 UTC). The last one was M 1.5, 9 km (5 mi) ESE, at 10:30 pm PST on 2 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Willits
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) south-southwest of Willits, CA, at 2:59 am PDT on 8 July 2021 (09:59 UTC), 4.9 km deep.
USGS: 16km SSW of Willits, CA
- When
- 2:59 am PDT on 8 July 2021 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) south-southwest of Willits, CA · earthquakes near Willits
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 4.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 18 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Maacama fault, 14 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 1947 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Willits, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Willits, 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 Willits, 16 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: Redwood Valley, Brooktrails, Ukiah, Talmage, Boonville.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.2 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 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 4.4 on 2020-12-06 — about 19,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 32 km ESE 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 39.2722, -123.4070. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 18 km (11 mi) | N | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Lake County, CA | 60 km (37 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Glenn County, CA | 94 km (58 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Colusa County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | E | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Napa County, CA | 126 km (79 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Napa County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
18 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 10km NNW of Redwood Valley, CA
- 1.8 2km ESE of Redwood Valley, CA
- 1.6 6km W of Laytonville, CA
- 1.9 7km ESE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 2.0 7km ESE of Willits, CA
- 1.6 14km NE of Redwood Valley, CA
- 1.7 10km SSE of Laytonville, CA
- 1.6 12km N of Brooktrails, CA
- 1.5 5km E of Boonville, CA
- 2.3 6km E of Willits, CA
- 1.6 13km SE of Talmage, CA
- 1.9 14km SSW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 1.6 6km S of Fort Bragg, CA
- 1.7 4km NW of Redwood Valley, CA
- 1.8 7km W 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.