QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Inverness, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Inverness in the 24 hours to 9:16 am PST (17:16 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 46 km (29 mi) NNE, at 10:33 am PDT on 3 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,843 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Inverness

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) north of Inverness, CA, at 9:09 am PST on 15 February 2022 (17:09 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 4km N of Inverness, CA

55 km (34 mi) NW of San Francisco, CA · 23 km (14 mi) WSW of Petaluma, CA

9:09 am PST, Feb 15, 2022 · · 13 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Marin County 13 kmSonoma County 44 kmSan Francisco County 48 kmNapa County 62 kmSolano County 81 kmContra Costa County 82 kmSan Mateo County 90 kmAlameda County 99 kmYolo County 103 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
9:09 am PST on 15 February 2022 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) north of Inverness, CA · earthquakes near Inverness
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Marin County, 13 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas 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 1728 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Inverness, 4 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Lagunitas-Forest Knolls, Petaluma, Woodacre, Penngrove, Novato, Cotati.

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

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

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 48 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 21 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 Northern California · 21 km N 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 38.1338, -122.8508. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Marin County, CA 13 km (8 mi) SE earthquakes near Marin County
Sonoma County, CA 44 km (27 mi) N earthquakes near Sonoma County
San Francisco County, CA 48 km (30 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Francisco County
Napa County, CA 62 km (38 mi) NE earthquakes near Napa County
Solano County, CA 81 km (50 mi) E earthquakes near Solano County
Contra Costa County, CA 82 km (51 mi) ESE earthquakes near Contra Costa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 6km ESE of Santa Rosa, CA
  2. 1.7 10km WNW of San Francisco Zoo, CA
  3. 1.6 6km E of Santa Venetia, CA
  4. 1.8 3km SSW of Larkfield-Wikiup, CA
  5. 1.7 5km SE of Point Reyes Station, CA
  6. 1.7 4km WSW of Yountville, CA
  7. 1.6 9km SW of Calistoga, CA
  8. 1.6 6km SSW of Calistoga, CA
  9. 2.5 1km SSE of Larkfield-Wikiup, CA
  10. 1.5 6km NNE of Kenwood, CA
  11. 2.6 8km WSW of Muir Beach, CA
  12. 1.6 7km S of Calistoga, CA
  13. 1.8 7km S of Calistoga, CA
  14. 1.8 5km SW of Yountville, CA
  15. 1.5 1km NNW of Larkfield-Wikiup, 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.