Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.3mw
Earthquake near McKinleyville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in McKinleyville in the 24 hours to 3:54 am PST (11:54 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 4.3 earthquake was recorded 28 km (17 mi) northeast of McKinleyville, CA, at 12:01 am PST on 20 January 2023 (08:01 UTC), 25 km deep. 504 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 16km WSW of Weitchpec, CA
- When
- 12:01 am PST on 20 January 2023 ()
- Where
- 28 km (17 mi) northeast of McKinleyville, CA · earthquakes near McKinleyville
- Magnitude
- M 4.3 (mw)
- Depth
- 25 km below the surface
- Felt
- 504 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Nearest
- Humboldt County, 47 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Bald Mountain-Big Lagoon fault, 9 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 1302 days ago
Earthquake alerts for McKinleyville, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near McKinleyville, CA. No account or email needed.
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 115 km (71 mi) from the epicentre. In McKinleyville, 28 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 28 km, intensity III · Willow Creek 29 km, intensity III · Bayside 35 km, intensity III · Eureka 44 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 37 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 4,600× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.3 about 37 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 78× 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 4.8 on 2016-07-21 — about 6.7 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.2 The 1980 Eureka, California Earthquake · 32 km W of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 Eureka-Arcata, California Earthquake · 31 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Eureka, California · 38 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 26 km NNW of Willow Creek, California · 7 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.4 3 km NNW of Burnt Ranch, California · 45 km SE 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 41.1280, -123.8753. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | S | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Del Norte County, CA | 70 km (43 mi) | N | earthquakes near Del Norte County |
| Trinity County, CA | 83 km (52 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Siskiyou County, CA | 123 km (77 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Siskiyou County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 5 km ENE of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.5 17 km SSE of Klamath, CA
- 3.0 17 km SSE of Klamath, CA
- 2.0 11 km ESE of Blue Lake, CA
- 2.0 4 km ENE of Blue Lake, CA
- 2.1 18 km S of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.3 3 km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.4 19 km ENE of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.5 14 km NW of Trinidad, CA
- 4.0 9 km SE of Blue Lake, CA
- 2.3 3 km N of Eureka, CA
- 2.3 7 km N of Eureka, CA
- 2.0 7 km NNW of Eureka, CA
- 2.6 21 km SSE of Somes Bar, CA
- 2.4 26 km SW of Klamath, 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.