QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Fortuna, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Fortuna in the 24 hours to 12:12 am PST (08:12 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 3.0 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east of Fortuna, CA, at 4:21 am PST on 20 December 2022 (12:21 UTC), 18 km deep. 16 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 5km E of Fortuna, CA

4:21 am PST, Dec 20, 2022 · · 18 km deep · released about 920 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Fortuna Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humboldt County 19 kmTrinity 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
4:21 am PST on 20 December 2022 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) east of Fortuna, CA · earthquakes near Fortuna
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
16 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Humboldt County, 19 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Little Salmon fault, 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 1352 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 31 km (19 mi) from the epicentre. In Fortuna, 5 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: Fortuna 5 km, intensity II · Rio Dell 11 km, intensity II · Ferndale 14 km, intensity II · Humboldt Hill 16 km, intensity II · Eureka 24 km, intensity II · Bayside 28 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 6.4 on 2022-12-20 — about 130,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 34 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 The 1992 Petrolia, California Earthquake · 31 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 32 km SW of Ferndale, California · 45 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.5 The 1932 Eureka, California Earthquake · 22 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 6.5 30 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 44 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.4 The 1954 Eureka-Arcata, California Earthquake · 33 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 40.5957, -124.0973. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humboldt County, CA 19 km (12 mi) NE earthquakes near Humboldt County
Trinity County, CA 83 km (52 mi) E earthquakes near Trinity County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 5km N of Hydesville, CA
  2. 2.0 13km WSW of Ferndale, CA
  3. 2.2 21km NE of Hydesville, CA
  4. 1.9 12km WSW of Ferndale, CA
  5. 2.5 15km W of Ferndale, CA
  6. 2.4 10km NE of Hydesville, CA
  7. 2.1 10km WSW of Ferndale, CA
  8. 2.0 10km ENE of Hydesville, CA
  9. 2.4 8km SW of Ferndale, CA
  10. 1.8 6km SSW of Ferndale, CA
  11. 3.2 6km SW of Ferndale, CA
  12. 2.9 13km NE of Hydesville, CA
  13. 2.6 14 km ESE of Pine Hills, California
  14. 3.0 10km E of Hydesville, CA
  15. 2.5 16km WSW of Ferndale, 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.