Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.3mw
Earthquake near Ferndale, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Ferndale in the 24 hours to 2:23 am PST (10:23 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 113 km (70 mi) W, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Ferndale
This page: a magnitude 4.3 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Ferndale, CA, at 2:06 pm PST on 20 December 2022 (22:06 UTC), 20 km deep. 92 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 6km WSW of Ferndale, CA
- When
- 2:06 pm PST on 20 December 2022 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Ferndale, CA · earthquakes near Ferndale
- Magnitude
- M 4.3 (mw)
- Depth
- 20 km below the surface
- Felt
- 92 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- Humboldt County, 38 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Little Salmon fault, 17 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
Earthquake alerts for Ferndale, 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 light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 124 km (77 mi) from the epicentre. In Ferndale, 6 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: Ferndale 6 km, intensity IV · Fortuna 16 km, intensity III · Rio Dell 20 km, intensity III · Humboldt Hill 23 km, intensity III · Eureka 32 km, intensity III · Bayside 40 km, intensity III · McKinleyville 49 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 51 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 3,300× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 150× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.3 about 51 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 110× 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 6.4 on 2022-12-20 — about 1,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 42 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.2 The 1992 Petrolia, California Earthquake · 25 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.6 32 km SW of Ferndale, California · 26 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.5 The 1932 Eureka, California Earthquake · 21 km N of this epicentre
- 6.5 30 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 24 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.5 The 2010 Eureka, California Earthquake · 33 km WNW 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 40.5455, -124.3292. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt County, CA | 38 km (24 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Trinity County, CA | 103 km (64 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.
- 1.8 7km SW of Ferndale, CA
- 2.7 7km NNE of Hydesville, CA
- 2.9 19km WSW of Ferndale, CA
- 2.1 6km SW of Ferndale, CA
- 1.9 2km SSE of Ferndale, CA
- 2.4 9km SW of Ferndale, CA
- 2.4 4km SSE of Ferndale, 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
- 2.4 23km WSW of Petrolia, CA
- 2.2 5km NNE of Hydesville, CA
- 2.3 7km SSW of Ferndale, CA
- 3.3 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.