QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6mw

Earthquake near McKinleyville, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in McKinleyville in the 24 hours to 4:38 am PST (12:38 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 139 km (86 mi) WSW, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near McKinleyville

This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) east of McKinleyville, CA, at 10:32 am PST on 10 January 2023 (18:32 UTC), 22 km deep. 726 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 6km E of McKinleyville, CA

10:32 am PST, Jan 10, 2023 · · 22 km deep · released about 3.9 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near McKinleyville Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humboldt County 28 kmTrinity County 84 kmDel Norte County 89 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
10:32 am PST on 10 January 2023 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) east of McKinleyville, CA · earthquakes near McKinleyville
Magnitude
M 3.6 (mw)
Depth
22 km below the surface
Felt
726 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Humboldt County, 28 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Mad River 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 1106 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 66 km (41 mi) from the epicentre. In McKinleyville, 6 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: McKinleyville 6 km, intensity III · Bayside 12 km, intensity III · Eureka 20 km, intensity III · Humboldt Hill 28 km, intensity II · Willow Creek 34 km, intensity II · Fortuna 40 km, intensity II · Ferndale 46 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 43,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.9 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 8.2× 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 4.9 on 2022-12-20 — about 92 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 The 1980 Eureka, California Earthquake · 26 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 The 1932 Eureka, California Earthquake · 33 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 Northwest of Eureka, California · 40 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 The 1954 Eureka-Arcata, California Earthquake · 16 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 Near Eureka, California · 17 km S 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 40.9488, -124.0303. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humboldt County, CA 28 km (18 mi) SSE earthquakes near Humboldt County
Trinity County, CA 84 km (52 mi) ESE earthquakes near Trinity County
Del Norte County, CA 89 km (55 mi) N earthquakes near Del Norte County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 5km ENE of Fortuna, CA
  2. 2.2 3km SE of Ferndale, CA
  3. 2.0 4km ESE of Ferndale, CA
  4. 2.8 17km NNW of Trinidad, CA
  5. 2.0 11km NE of Hydesville, CA
  6. 2.5 4km SW of Humboldt Hill, CA
  7. 2.4 24km ENE of Hydesville, CA
  8. 2.5 8km W of Willow Creek, CA
  9. 1.9 7km NNE of Hydesville, CA
  10. 1.8 10km ENE of Hydesville, CA
  11. 1.9 6km NNE of Hydesville, CA
  12. 2.0 16km SE of Blue Lake, CA
  13. 1.7 3km S of Ferndale, CA
  14. 1.6 4km WNW of Fortuna, CA
  15. 3.1 4km ESE 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.