QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

4km SE of Meadow Valley, CA

· 6.8 km deep · released about 51 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Plumas County 20 kmButte County 56 kmSierra County 57 kmNevada County 71 kmYuba County 76 kmLassen County 96 kmPlacer County 98 kmTehama County 105 kmSutter 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
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
6.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Plumas County, 20 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1465 days ago

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

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 51 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 51 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.

Where

Epicentre 39.9067, -121.0328. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Plumas County, CA 20 km (13 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Butte County, CA 56 km (35 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Butte County
Sierra County, CA 57 km (35 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Nevada County, CA 71 km (44 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Nevada County
Yuba County, CA 76 km (47 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Yuba County
Lassen County, CA 96 km (60 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Lassen County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 4km NW of Canyondam, CA
  2. 1.9 4km NNE of Prattville, CA
  3. 2.3 2km NE of Almanor, CA
  4. 2.4 2km NE of Almanor, CA
  5. 2.0 4km ESE of Prattville, CA
  6. 2.8 2km NNE of Prattville, CA
  7. 2.4 4km E of Prattville, CA
  8. 2.1 3km ENE of Prattville, CA
  9. 2.1 4km E of Prattville, CA
  10. 3.0 1km N of Prattville, CA
  11. 2.5 1km ENE of Almanor, CA
  12. 2.6 4km E of Prattville, CA
  13. 2.4 3km E of Prattville, CA
  14. 2.6 3km SSW of East Shore, CA
  15. 2.6 4km E of Prattville, 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.