QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.2mw

5km S of Oroville East, CA

· 0.6 km deep · released about 35 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yuba County 25 kmButte County 25 kmSutter County 52 kmNevada County 63 kmColusa County 73 kmPlacer County 79 kmGlenn County 81 kmPlumas County 81 kmSierra County 83 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
Magnitude
M 4.2 (mw)
Depth
0.6 km below the surface
Felt
571 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity V (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Nearest
Yuba County, 25 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1457 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon. 571 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 35 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 4,900× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 220× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.2 about 35 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 72× more

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.

Where

Epicentre 39.4657, -121.4762. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Yuba County, CA 25 km (15 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Yuba County
Butte County, CA 25 km (15 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Butte County
Sutter County, CA 52 km (32 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Sutter County
Nevada County, CA 63 km (39 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Colusa County, CA 73 km (45 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Colusa County
Placer County, CA 79 km (49 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Placer County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 6 km E of Challenge-Brownsville, CA
  2. 2.1 8 km WNW of La Porte, CA
  3. 2.5 15 km S of Hamilton City, CA
  4. 2.1 7 km ESE of Challenge-Brownsville, CA
  5. 2.0 17 km E of Willows, CA
  6. 1.9 19 km E of Willows, CA
  7. 1.9 5 km WSW of Concow, CA
  8. 3.1 9 km ENE of Colusa, CA
  9. 3.2 15 km E of Willows, CA
  10. 2.1 16 km ESE of Willows, CA
  11. 2.1 11 km WSW of Durham, CA
  12. 2.5 17 km E of Willows, CA
  13. 1.9 17 km E of Willows, CA
  14. 2.3 16 km ESE of Willows, CA
  15. 2.2 5 km WNW of Magalia, 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.