QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

Earthquake near Rio Dell, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Rio Dell in the 24 hours to 6:22 am PST (14:22 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 126 km (78 mi) W, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Rio Dell

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) east of Rio Dell, CA, at 11:49 am PDT on 12 July 2023 (18:49 UTC), 5.6 km deep.

USGS: 26 km E of Rio Dell, CA

11:49 am PDT, Jul 12, 2023 · · 5.6 km deep · released about 110 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rio Dell Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humboldt County 28 kmTrinity County 61 kmMendocino County 119 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
11:49 am PDT on 12 July 2023 ()
Where
26 km (16 mi) east of Rio Dell, CA · earthquakes near Rio Dell
Magnitude
M 2.4 (md)
Depth
5.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humboldt County, 28 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Little Salmon fault, 2 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 1219 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 20 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Rio Dell, 26 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: Hydesville.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 110 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 95,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 110 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 6.2 on 2021-12-20 — about 540,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 The 1992 Petrolia, California Earthquake · 39 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 The 1954 Eureka-Arcata, California Earthquake · 43 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 Near Rio Dell, California · 34 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 30 km SSW of Scotia, California · 48 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 Near Eureka, California · 40 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 40.4697, -123.7980. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humboldt County, CA 28 km (18 mi) NNW earthquakes near Humboldt County
Trinity County, CA 61 km (38 mi) ENE earthquakes near Trinity County
Mendocino County, CA 119 km (74 mi) SSE earthquakes near Mendocino County
Glenn County, CA 153 km (95 mi) SE earthquakes near Glenn County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 7 km E of Hydesville, CA
  2. 1.6 3 km SSW of Petrolia, CA
  3. 3.6 4 km S of Petrolia, CA
  4. 4.1 3 km S of Petrolia, CA
  5. 4.7 3 km SW of Ferndale, CA
  6. 1.7 10 km SSE of Redway, CA
  7. 3.2 28 km S of Willow Creek, CA
  8. 1.7 33 km SW of Hayfork, CA
  9. 2.3 1 km SW of Humboldt Hill, CA
  10. 1.5 7 km NW of Ferndale, CA
  11. 2.1 18 km SSE of Blue Lake, CA
  12. 2.1 3 km NW of Hydesville, CA
  13. 2.8 1 km SSE of Arcata, CA
  14. 2.3 4 km ESE of Redway, CA
  15. 1.7 4 km SSW of Fortuna, 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.