QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Brooktrails, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Brooktrails in the 24 hours to 7:57 am PST (15:57 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 38 km (23 mi) E, at 5:01 am PDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Brooktrails

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) west of Brooktrails, CA, at 11:58 am PDT on 28 March 2023 (18:58 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 15km W of Brooktrails, CA

11:58 am PDT, Mar 28, 2023 · · -0.5 km deep · released about 160 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mendocino County 10 kmLake County 80 kmGlenn County 100 kmSonoma County 117 kmColusa County 118 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
11:58 am PDT on 28 March 2023 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) west of Brooktrails, CA · earthquakes near Brooktrails
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
-0.5 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Mendocino County, 10 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Maacama fault, 14 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 1258 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Brooktrails, 15 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: Brooktrails 15 km, intensity II · Willits 18 km, intensity II · Fort Bragg 21 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 160 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 92,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 65,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 160 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 2019-04-29 — about 560 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 39 km NNW 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 39.4550, -123.5560. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mendocino County, CA 10 km (6 mi) ESE earthquakes near Mendocino County
Lake County, CA 80 km (50 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lake County
Glenn County, CA 100 km (62 mi) E earthquakes near Glenn County
Sonoma County, CA 117 km (73 mi) SSE earthquakes near Sonoma County
Colusa County, CA 118 km (73 mi) ESE earthquakes near Colusa County
Tehama County, CA 136 km (84 mi) NE earthquakes near Tehama County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 5 km ESE of Willits, CA
  2. 1.8 15 km NW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  3. 1.6 15 km WNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  4. 1.8 16 km NW of Brooktrails, CA
  5. 1.5 13 km NNE of Laytonville, CA
  6. 1.6 9 km ESE of Willits, CA
  7. 1.7 14 km NNE of Redwood Valley, CA
  8. 2.9 11km N of Brooktrails, CA
  9. 1.5 8km SE of Willits, CA
  10. 1.8 10km SE of Willits, CA
  11. 2.0 15km NE of Point Arena, CA
  12. 1.6 8km E of Willits, CA
  13. 2.2 15km NE of Point Arena, CA
  14. 1.5 9km NNW of Redwood Valley, CA
  15. 1.9 5km NE of Ukiah, 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.