QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2md

Earthquake near Burney, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Burney in the 24 hours to 7:03 am PST (15:03 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 11 km (7 mi) ESE, at 3:08 am PDT on 17 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Burney

This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 28 km (17 mi) south-southeast of Burney, CA, at 10:40 pm PST on 14 December 2021 (06:40 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 21km NE of Viola, CA

10:40 pm PST, Dec 14, 2021 · · 12 km deep · released about 62 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Shasta County 46 kmLassen County 75 kmTehama County 85 kmPlumas County 94 kmButte County 111 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
10:40 pm PST on 14 December 2021 ()
Where
28 km (17 mi) south-southeast of Burney, CA · earthquakes near Burney
Magnitude
M 2.2 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Shasta County, 46 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Hat Creek fault, 10 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 1793 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Burney, 28 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 62 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 240,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 170,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 15× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 62 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

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

  1. 5.5 15 km NE of Mineral, California · 24 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 40.6617, -121.5092. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Shasta County, CA 46 km (29 mi) WNW earthquakes near Shasta County
Lassen County, CA 75 km (47 mi) E earthquakes near Lassen County
Tehama County, CA 85 km (53 mi) SW earthquakes near Tehama County
Plumas County, CA 94 km (59 mi) SE earthquakes near Plumas County
Butte County, CA 111 km (69 mi) S earthquakes near Butte County
Modoc County, CA 123 km (76 mi) NNE earthquakes near Modoc County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 6km SE of Viola, CA
  2. 2.1 12km N of Mineral, CA
  3. 1.5 12km ESE of Viola, CA
  4. 2.5 11km N of Mineral, CA
  5. 1.6 14km NNW of Chester, CA
  6. 1.6 11km S of Manton, CA
  7. 1.7 11km WNW of Chester, CA
  8. 2.1 10km WNW of Chester, CA
  9. 1.7 4km N of Viola, CA
  10. 1.8 18km NW of Viola, CA
  11. 1.9 14km NNE of Mineral, CA
  12. 1.6 2km ESE of Chester, CA
  13. 1.6 21km SE of Burney, CA
  14. 2.0 24km SSE of Burney, CA
  15. 1.9 10km NW of Burney, 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.