QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Windsor, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Windsor in the 24 hours to 8:16 am PST (16:16 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 30 km (18 mi) N, at 11:06 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Windsor

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) north-northeast of Windsor, CA, at 12:22 am PDT on 31 August 2021 (07:22 UTC), 6.7 km deep.

USGS: 10km NNE of Windsor, CA

20 km (12 mi) NNW of Santa Rosa, CA

12:22 am PDT, Aug 31, 2021 · · 6.7 km deep · released about 14 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sonoma County 18 kmNapa County 40 kmLake County 54 kmMarin County 63 kmYolo County 75 kmColusa County 77 kmSolano County 81 kmSan Francisco County 102 kmSutter County 102 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
12:22 am PDT on 31 August 2021 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) north-northeast of Windsor, CA · earthquakes near Windsor
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
6.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sonoma County, 18 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Maacama fault, 2 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 1892 days ago

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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Windsor, 10 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: Windsor 10 km, intensity II · Healdsburg 10 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 760,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 68× the energy of this one
  4. 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 5.0 on 2016-12-14 — about 70,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 34 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 Northern California · 34 km S 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 38.6195, -122.7580. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sonoma County, CA 18 km (11 mi) SW earthquakes near Sonoma County
Napa County, CA 40 km (25 mi) ESE earthquakes near Napa County
Lake County, CA 54 km (34 mi) N earthquakes near Lake County
Marin County, CA 63 km (39 mi) S earthquakes near Marin County
Yolo County, CA 75 km (46 mi) E earthquakes near Yolo County
Colusa County, CA 77 km (48 mi) NE earthquakes near Colusa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 4km NW of The Geysers, CA
  2. 2.2 8km NW of The Geysers, CA
  3. 1.5 8km NW of The Geysers, CA
  4. 1.8 10km WNW of The Geysers, CA
  5. 2.1 5km WNW of Cobb, CA
  6. 1.7 8km W of Cobb, CA
  7. 1.7 4km W of Cobb, CA
  8. 1.5 9km NE of Santa Rosa, CA
  9. 1.5 5km WNW of The Geysers, CA
  10. 1.9 10km NW of The Geysers, CA
  11. 1.6 2km N of The Geysers, CA
  12. 1.5 1km NNW of The Geysers, CA
  13. 1.9 3km SSW of Anderson Springs, CA
  14. 1.5 1km E of The Geysers, CA
  15. 1.8 2km SSW of Cobb, 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.