Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Clearlake, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Clearlake in the 24 hours to 4:38 am PST (12:38 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 22 km (14 mi) SSW, at 4:44 pm PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Clearlake
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north-northeast of Clearlake, CA, at 7:36 am PST on 14 December 2021 (15:36 UTC), 5.3 km deep.
USGS: 5km NNE of Clearlake, CA
- When
- 7:36 am PST on 14 December 2021 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) north-northeast of Clearlake, CA · earthquakes near Clearlake
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 5.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lake County, 18 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Bartlett Springs fault system, 7 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 1791 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Clearlake, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Clearlake, 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 Clearlake, 5 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: Clearlake 5 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.9 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 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 220,000 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 · 45 km WNW 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 38.9943, -122.5997. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake County, CA | 18 km (11 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Colusa County, CA | 37 km (23 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Napa County, CA | 59 km (37 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 59 km (37 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Glenn County, CA | 70 km (43 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Yolo County, CA | 70 km (43 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Yolo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 8km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 2.2 6km S of Anderson Springs, CA
- 1.6 1km NNW of The Geysers, CA
- 2.5 4km W of Cobb, CA
- 1.7 8km WNW of Cobb, CA
- 1.7 7km WNW of Cobb, CA
- 2.6 7km W of Cobb, CA
- 2.3 3km SW of Anderson Springs, CA
- 1.6 5km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.7 8km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 2.1 4km WNW of The Geysers, CA
- 2.3 7km W of Cobb, CA
- 1.7 2km WNW of Anderson Springs, CA
- 1.7 8km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 2.1 3km SE 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.