Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Covelo, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Covelo in the 24 hours to 5:05 am PST (13:05 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) N, at 3:31 pm PST on 10 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Covelo
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 34 km (21 mi) northeast of Covelo, CA, at 1:37 pm PDT on 8 September 2023 (20:37 UTC), 9.8 km deep.
USGS: 34 km NE of Covelo, CA
99 km (61 mi) WNW of Chico, CA
- When
- 1:37 pm PDT on 8 September 2023 ()
- Where
- 34 km (21 mi) northeast of Covelo, CA · earthquakes near Covelo
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 9.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Tehama County, 62 km ENE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1156 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Covelo, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Covelo, 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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Covelo, 34 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.6 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 2,700,000× 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 5.6 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 4.1 on 2021-11-04 — about 7,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.5 33 km NW of Rancho Tehama Reserve, California · 30 km NE 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 39.9878, -122.9355. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tehama County, CA | 62 km (38 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Glenn County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Trinity County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Mendocino County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Lake County, CA | 99 km (62 mi) | S | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Colusa County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
35 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 7 km WNW of Covelo, CA
- 2.0 33 km of Alder Springs, CA
- 1.8 10 km NNE of Covelo, CA
- 2.5 41 km NNE of Covelo, CA
- 2.6 42 km NNE of Covelo, CA
- 1.7 11 km WNW of Alder Springs, CA
- 1.6 24 km NNW of Alder Springs, CA
- 2.1 40 km NW of Rancho Tehama Reserve, CA
- 2.0 9 km SW of Alder Springs, CA
- 2.0 21 km NNE of Alder Springs, CA
- 2.1 32 km of Alder Springs, CA
- 1.6 12 km NE of Covelo, CA
- 1.8 31 km of Alder Springs, CA
- 1.8 12 km SSE of Covelo, CA
- 2.0 39 km NW of Rancho Tehama Reserve, 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.