QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near Burney, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Burney in the 24 hours to 4:06 am PST (12:06 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 11 km (7 mi) ESE, at 3:08 am PDT on 17 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Burney

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) northeast of Burney, CA, at 2:41 pm PDT on 15 September 2023 (21:41 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 8 km W of Fall River Mills, CA

2:41 pm PDT, Sep 15, 2023 · · 14 km deep · released about 510 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Shasta County 50 kmLassen County 83 kmModoc County 95 kmSiskiyou County 106 kmTehama County 113 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
2:41 pm PDT on 15 September 2023 ()
Where
17 km (10 mi) northeast of Burney, CA · earthquakes near Burney
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Shasta County, 50 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Hat Creek 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 1090 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 25 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Burney, 17 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.

Likely felt in: Burney 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 510 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 30,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 21,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 510 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 5.0 on 2023-09-08 — about 1,800 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 40.9978, -121.5372. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Shasta County, CA 50 km (31 mi) WSW earthquakes near Shasta County
Lassen County, CA 83 km (52 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lassen County
Modoc County, CA 95 km (59 mi) NE earthquakes near Modoc County
Siskiyou County, CA 106 km (66 mi) NW earthquakes near Siskiyou County
Tehama County, CA 113 km (70 mi) SSW earthquakes near Tehama County
Plumas County, CA 127 km (79 mi) SSE earthquakes near Plumas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 16 km E of McCloud, CA
  2. 1.6 35 km SSE of Fall River Mills, CA
  3. 1.9 5 km SE of Burney, CA
  4. 1.6 8 km NNE of Viola, CA
  5. 1.7 7 km NNE of Viola, CA
  6. 1.9 17 km N of McArthur, CA
  7. 1.5 13 km NNE of Viola, CA
  8. 1.7 28 km E of Viola, CA
  9. 1.7 16 km S of Round Mountain, CA
  10. 1.7 16 km S of Round Mountain, CA
  11. 2.9 23 km ENE of Viola, CA
  12. 1.5 23 km ENE of Viola, CA
  13. 1.9 23 km ENE of Viola, CA
  14. 1.6 25 km ENE of Viola, CA
  15. 1.9 6 km SE of Burney, 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.