QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Willow Creek, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Willow Creek in the 24 hours to 6:23 am PST (14:23 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 175 km (109 mi) WSW, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Willow Creek

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) north-northeast of Willow Creek, CA, at 7:42 pm PDT on 14 July 2022 (02:42 UTC), 40 km deep.

USGS: 12km SSW of Somes Bar, CA

7:42 pm PDT, Jul 14, 2022 · · 40 km deep · released about 920 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Willow Creek Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Del Norte County 64 kmHumboldt County 72 kmTrinity County 79 kmSiskiyou County 90 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
7:42 pm PDT on 14 July 2022 ()
Where
39 km (24 mi) north-northeast of Willow Creek, CA · earthquakes near Willow Creek
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
40 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Del Norte County, 64 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1510 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Willow Creek, 39 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 920 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 370,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 920 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 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.6 26 km NNW of Willow Creek, California · 27 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 3 km NNW of Burnt Ranch, California · 50 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 41.2830, -123.5322. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Del Norte County, CA 64 km (40 mi) NW earthquakes near Del Norte County
Humboldt County, CA 72 km (45 mi) SSW earthquakes near Humboldt County
Trinity County, CA 79 km (49 mi) SSE earthquakes near Trinity County
Siskiyou County, CA 90 km (56 mi) ENE earthquakes near Siskiyou 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. 3.4 9 km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
  2. 2.0 14 km WNW of Willow Creek, CA
  3. 2.1 9 km E of Willow Creek, CA
  4. 2.7 28 km ENE of Willow Creek, CA
  5. 2.1 12 km NE of Westhaven-Moonstone, CA
  6. 2.2 26 km E of Willow Creek, CA
  7. 2.5 10 km NW of Willow Creek, CA
  8. 2.3 38 km E of Willow Creek, CA
  9. 2.0 30 km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
  10. 2.3 29 km ESE of Weitchpec, CA
  11. 2.1 8 km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
  12. 2.8 18 km SSE of Klamath, CA
  13. 2.6 23 km ESE of Weitchpec, CA
  14. 2.0 9 km WNW of Willow Creek, CA
  15. 2.1 5 km ENE of Willow Creek, 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.