QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Orland, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Orland in the 24 hours to 12:01 am PST (08:01 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 70 km (44 mi) WSW, at 5:01 am PDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Orland

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 35 km (22 mi) west-southwest of Orland, CA, at 9:06 am PST on 17 January 2022 (17:06 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 7km NW of Stony Gorge Reservoir, CA

67 km (41 mi) WSW of Chico, CA

9:06 am PST, Jan 17, 2022 · · 10 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Glenn County 15 kmColusa County 58 kmLake County 60 kmTehama County 62 kmMendocino County 77 kmButte County 84 kmSutter County 100 kmYuba County 113 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
9:06 am PST on 17 January 2022 ()
Where
35 km (22 mi) west-southwest of Orland, CA · earthquakes near Orland
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Glenn County, 15 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 24 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 1758 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Orland, 35 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 15 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 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 86,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 39.6320, -122.5785. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Glenn County, CA 15 km (10 mi) ESE earthquakes near Glenn County
Colusa County, CA 58 km (36 mi) SSE earthquakes near Colusa County
Lake County, CA 60 km (37 mi) SSW earthquakes near Lake County
Tehama County, CA 62 km (39 mi) NNE earthquakes near Tehama County
Mendocino County, CA 77 km (48 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mendocino County
Butte County, CA 84 km (52 mi) E earthquakes near Butte County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 2km ESE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  2. 2.1 13km SSE of Willows, CA
  3. 1.9 6km ESE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  4. 1.6 6km N of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  5. 1.8 12km WNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  6. 1.9 12km W of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  7. 1.8 6km ESE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  8. 2.0 8km NNE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  9. 1.6 16km NW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  10. 1.6 12km W of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  11. 1.8 5km N of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  12. 2.3 10km NNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  13. 2.2 4km ESE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  14. 2.1 5km ESE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  15. 1.9 22km N of Lake Pillsbury, 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.