Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Clearlake, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Clearlake in the 24 hours to 11:34 pm PST (07:34 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 22 km (14 mi) SSW, at 4:44 pm PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Clearlake
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) east-northeast of Clearlake, CA, at 12:49 am PDT on 17 August 2023 (07:49 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 15 km ENE of Clearlake, CA
- When
- 12:49 am PDT on 17 August 2023 ()
- Where
- 15 km (9 mi) east-northeast of Clearlake, CA · earthquakes near Clearlake
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- -0.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lake County, 27 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Hunting Creek-Berryessa fault system, 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 1182 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Clearlake, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Clearlake, CA. No account or email needed.
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 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Clearlake, 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Lower Lake, Clearlake Oaks, Hidden Valley Lake, Clear Lake Riviera, Soda Bay, Cobb.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 5.1 on 2016-08-10 — about 230,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 38.9950, -122.4630. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Colusa County, CA | 28 km (17 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Napa County, CA | 56 km (35 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Yolo County, CA | 60 km (37 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Yolo County |
| Sutter County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | E | earthquakes near Sutter County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 4 km W of Cobb, CA
- 1.7 14 km ESE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 1.7 1 km NE of The Geysers, CA
- 1.7 3 km NNW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.5 2 km W of Anderson Springs, CA
- 1.7 8 km WNW of Cobb, CA
- 1.6 3 km NE of The Geysers, CA
- 1.8 18 km SE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 2.5 18 km NNE of Upper Lake, CA
- 1.7 10 km WNW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.6 7 km WNW of Cobb, CA
- 1.6 2 km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.9 7 km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.6 1 km NE of The Geysers, CA
- 1.8 7 km WNW of The Geysers, 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.