QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Santa Rosa, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Rosa in the 24 hours to 8:58 am PST (16:58 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 5 km (3 mi) NE, at 2:01 pm PDT on 23 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Rosa

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) north of Santa Rosa, CA, at 6:02 am PST on 7 November 2021 (14:02 UTC), 1.5 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 2km ENE of The Geysers, CA

38 km (24 mi) N of Santa Rosa, CA · 115 km (72 mi) NNW of San Francisco, CA

6:02 am PST, Nov 7, 2021 · · 1.5 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sonoma County 33 kmLake County 36 kmNapa County 47 kmColusa County 61 kmYolo County 73 kmMarin County 82 kmSolano County 90 kmSutter County 93 kmMendocino County 94 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
6:02 am PST on 7 November 2021 ()
Where
39 km (24 mi) north of Santa Rosa, CA · earthquakes near Santa Rosa
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
1.5 km below the surface
Felt
1 report
Nearest
Sonoma County, 33 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Konocti Bay fault, 11 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 1822 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 Santa Rosa, 39 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Cobb 4 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 140,000 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 · 48 km NW 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 38.7865, -122.7343. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sonoma County, CA 33 km (21 mi) SSW earthquakes near Sonoma County
Lake County, CA 36 km (22 mi) N earthquakes near Lake County
Napa County, CA 47 km (29 mi) SE earthquakes near Napa County
Colusa County, CA 61 km (38 mi) NE earthquakes near Colusa County
Yolo County, CA 73 km (45 mi) E earthquakes near Yolo County
Marin County, CA 82 km (51 mi) S earthquakes near Marin 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. 2.5 7km SW of Calistoga, CA
  2. 1.5 9km WNW of Cobb, CA
  3. 1.7 2km W of Anderson Springs, CA
  4. 2.0 4km WNW of The Geysers, CA
  5. 1.5 14km E of Boonville, CA
  6. 1.8 1km NE of The Geysers, CA
  7. 1.6 1km ESE of The Geysers, CA
  8. 1.5 3km ESE of The Geysers, CA
  9. 1.6 6km WNW of Cobb, CA
  10. 1.9 2km E of The Geysers, CA
  11. 1.7 7km W of Cobb, CA
  12. 1.6 2km NE of The Geysers, CA
  13. 1.8 2km ESE of The Geysers, CA
  14. 2.2 3km NNW of The Geysers, CA
  15. 2.5 1km 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.