Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1md
Earthquake near Fortuna, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Fortuna in the 24 hours to 2:34 am PST (10:34 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 123 km (76 mi) W, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Fortuna
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) east of Fortuna, CA, at 5:27 am PST on 16 December 2022 (13:27 UTC), 26 km deep.
USGS: 36km W of Hayfork, CA
- When
- 5:27 am PST on 16 December 2022 ()
- Where
- 47 km (29 mi) east of Fortuna, CA · earthquakes near Fortuna
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (md)
- Depth
- 26 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Humboldt County, 33 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Little Salmon fault, 19 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 1421 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Fortuna, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 Fortuna, 47 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
- 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.8 on 2016-07-21 — about 9,800 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1954 Eureka-Arcata, California Earthquake · 43 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Rio Dell, California · 50 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Eureka, California · 45 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.6 15 km SW of Burnt Ranch, California · 21 km N of this epicentre
- 5.4 3 km NNW of Burnt Ranch, California · 35 km NNE 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 40.5295, -123.6098. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt County, CA | 33 km (21 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Trinity County, CA | 44 km (27 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Tehama County, CA | 125 km (78 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Glenn County, CA | 146 km (90 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Siskiyou County, CA | 148 km (92 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Siskiyou County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.7 7km NNE of Hydesville, CA
- 1.7 13km E of Hydesville, CA
- 1.8 22km E of Hydesville, CA
- 2.6 13km NE of Hydesville, CA
- 2.1 12km ENE of Fortuna, CA
- 2.2 5km NNE of Hydesville, CA
- 3.3 6km NNE of Hydesville, CA
- 2.3 6km NNE of Hydesville, CA
- 1.7 13km NE of Hydesville, CA
- 3.0 11km ESE of Pine Hills, CA
- 2.4 4km SSE of Fortuna, CA
- 2.1 22km ESE of Pine Hills, CA
- 2.8 7km ESE of Hydesville, CA
- 2.6 5km NNE of Hydesville, CA
- 2.5 6km NNE of Hydesville, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.