QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 5.2mw

4km NW of Canyondam, CA

· 6.1 km deep · released about 830 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Plumas County 33 kmLassen County 71 kmButte County 73 kmSierra County 85 kmTehama County 97 kmShasta County 102 kmNevada County 104 kmYuba County 105 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
Magnitude
M 5.2 (mw)
Depth
6.1 km below the surface
Felt
1350 reports · strongest reported intensity VI
Measured shaking
intensity VII (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Nearest
Plumas County, 33 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1163 days ago

This was a moderate earthquake. Shaking at this size can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. 1350 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 830 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 6.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 200× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9.1× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 5.2 about 830 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1,700× 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.

Where

Epicentre 40.1960, -121.0998. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Plumas County, CA 33 km (20 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Plumas County
Lassen County, CA 71 km (44 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Lassen County
Butte County, CA 73 km (45 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Butte County
Sierra County, CA 85 km (53 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Sierra County
Tehama County, CA 97 km (60 mi) E of here earthquakes near Tehama County
Shasta County, CA 102 km (63 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Shasta County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 4km NE of Prattville, CA
  2. 2.2 1km NE of Prattville, CA
  3. 1.9 3km NE of Almanor, CA
  4. 1.9 4km ENE of Prattville, CA
  5. 2.3 3km ENE of Prattville, CA
  6. 2.3 2km NE of Almanor, CA
  7. 2.4 0km NW of Prattville, CA
  8. 3.2 2km NNE of Almanor, CA
  9. 1.9 1km NNE of Prattville, CA
  10. 2.6 3km NNE of Prattville, CA
  11. 1.8 2km NNE of Almanor, CA
  12. 2.5 3km NNE of Almanor, CA
  13. 2.0 4km NNW of Almanor, CA
  14. 1.8 4km ESE of Prattville, CA
  15. 2.6 2km NE of Almanor, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 5.5 on 2023-05-11 — it released about 3 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.