QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Brooktrails, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Brooktrails in the 24 hours to 3:21 am PST (11:21 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) north of Brooktrails, CA, at 4:48 am PDT on 4 April 2023 (11:48 UTC), 6.4 km deep.

USGS: 11km N of Brooktrails, CA

4:48 am PDT, Apr 4, 2023 · · 6.4 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mendocino County 14 kmLake County 74 kmGlenn County 85 kmColusa County 107 kmTehama 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
4:48 am PDT on 4 April 2023 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) north of Brooktrails, CA · earthquakes near Brooktrails
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
6.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mendocino County, 14 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Maacama fault, 4 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 1317 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Brooktrails, 11 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Willits, Laytonville, Covelo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 7,900 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 · 40 km NW 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 39.5460, -123.3872. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mendocino County, CA 14 km (8 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mendocino County
Lake County, CA 74 km (46 mi) SE earthquakes near Lake County
Glenn County, CA 85 km (53 mi) E earthquakes near Glenn County
Colusa County, CA 107 km (66 mi) ESE earthquakes near Colusa County
Tehama County, CA 118 km (73 mi) ENE earthquakes near Tehama County
Sonoma County, CA 120 km (75 mi) SSE earthquakes near Sonoma County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 16km WSW of Redwood Valley, CA
  2. 1.6 10km SSW of Cape Vizcaino, CA
  3. 1.7 7km E of Willits, CA
  4. 1.7 21km E of Navarro Head, CA
  5. 2.1 21km E of Navarro Head, CA
  6. 1.6 2km SW of Redwood Valley, CA
  7. 1.6 6km SE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  8. 1.7 23km SSW of Willits, CA
  9. 1.7 5km N of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  10. 1.7 3km NNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  11. 1.8 23km SSW of Willits, CA
  12. 1.6 5km SE of Willits, CA
  13. 1.5 8km ESE of Willits, CA
  14. 2.0 9km NNE of Brooktrails, CA
  15. 1.7 18km WNW of Lake Pillsbury, 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.