Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9md
Earthquake near Willow Creek, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Willow Creek in the 24 hours to 2:11 am PST (10:11 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 175 km (109 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 Willow Creek
This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) north-northeast of Willow Creek, CA, at 3:33 pm PDT on 12 March 2023 (22:33 UTC), 35 km deep.
USGS: 3km SSE of Somes Bar, CA
- When
- 3:33 pm PDT on 12 March 2023 ()
- Where
- 48 km (30 mi) north-northeast of Willow Creek, CA · earthquakes near Willow Creek
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (md)
- Depth
- 35 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Del Norte County, 62 km NW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1271 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Willow Creek, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Willow Creek, 48 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 630 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 24,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 17,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 630 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 4.3 on 2023-01-20 — about 120 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 26 km NNW of Willow Creek, California · 36 km SW 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 41.3515, -123.4668. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Del Norte County, CA | 62 km (38 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Del Norte County |
| Humboldt County, CA | 81 km (51 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Siskiyou County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Siskiyou County |
| Trinity County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Josephine County, OR | 115 km (72 mi) | N | earthquakes near Josephine County |
| Jackson County, OR | 135 km (84 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Jackson County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 12 km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.2 10 km NNW of Willow Creek, CA
- 1.9 16 km E of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.4 20 km SE of Klamath, CA
- 2.1 17 km ENE of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.0 13 km E of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.1 27 km ENE of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.6 30 km ESE of Somes Bar, CA
- 2.5 24 km SSE of Somes Bar, CA
- 2.3 13 km E of Weitchpec, CA
- 2.7 33 km SSE of Somes Bar, CA
- 2.4 20 km ENE of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.3 21 km E of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.4 8 km SSE of Weitchpec, CA
- 2.6 27 km ENE of Willow Creek, 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.