QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Santa Rosa, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Rosa in the 24 hours to 3:52 am PST (11:52 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) southeast of Santa Rosa, CA, at 6:36 pm PDT on 12 May 2022 (01:36 UTC), 8.9 km deep.

USGS: 6km W of Glen Ellen, CA

13 km (8 mi) SE of Santa Rosa, CA

6:36 pm PDT, May 12, 2022 · · 8.9 km deep · released about 14 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Napa County 28 kmSonoma County 34 kmMarin County 38 kmSolano County 58 kmYolo County 69 kmContra Costa County 75 kmSan Francisco County 81 kmLake County 83 kmColusa County 95 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
6:36 pm PDT on 12 May 2022 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) southeast of Santa Rosa, CA · earthquakes near Santa Rosa
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
8.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Napa County, 28 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Bennett Valley fault, under 1 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 1638 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Rosa, 13 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: Kenwood 6 km, intensity II · Rohnert Park 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 14 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 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 4.2 on 2018-01-18 — about 4,700 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 30 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 20 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 Northern California · 21 km WSW 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 38.3712, -122.5940. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Napa County, CA 28 km (17 mi) ENE earthquakes near Napa County
Sonoma County, CA 34 km (21 mi) WNW earthquakes near Sonoma County
Marin County, CA 38 km (24 mi) SSW earthquakes near Marin County
Solano County, CA 58 km (36 mi) E earthquakes near Solano County
Yolo County, CA 69 km (43 mi) ENE earthquakes near Yolo County
Contra Costa County, CA 75 km (47 mi) SE earthquakes near Contra Costa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 12km E of Yountville, CA
  2. 1.7 2km NNW of The Geysers, CA
  3. 2.2 6km ESE of Penngrove, CA
  4. 2.0 3km ENE of The Geysers, CA
  5. 2.2 2km E of The Geysers, CA
  6. 1.6 9km NNE of Benicia, CA
  7. 1.9 2km ESE of The Geysers, CA
  8. 1.5 1km NW of The Geysers, CA
  9. 1.7 5km SSW of Calistoga, CA
  10. 1.7 2km NNE of The Geysers, CA
  11. 2.1 10km NNE of Larkfield-Wikiup, CA
  12. 2.6 4km SSW of Anderson Springs, CA
  13. 2.7 3km NNW of Middletown, CA
  14. 2.0 2km NNE of The Geysers, CA
  15. 1.9 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.