QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near Paradise, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Paradise in the 24 hours to 9:19 am PST (17:19 UTC). The last one was M 5.6, 145 km (90 mi) WSW, at 8:10 am PDT on 24 June 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 5,311 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Paradise

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 47 km (30 mi) north of Paradise, CA, at 10:53 pm PDT on 1 October 2023 (05:53 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 20 km S of Mineral, CA

53 km (33 mi) NNE of Chico, CA

10:53 pm PDT, Oct 1, 2023 · · 11 km deep · released about 32 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Butte County 58 kmTehama County 61 kmPlumas County 63 kmShasta County 78 kmLassen County 97 kmGlenn County 99 kmYuba County 102 kmSierra County 109 kmNevada County 117 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
10:53 pm PDT on 1 October 2023 ()
Where
47 km (30 mi) north of Paradise, CA · earthquakes near Paradise
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Butte County, 58 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1132 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Paradise, 47 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: Chester.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 32 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 470,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 330,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 30× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 32 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 5.5 on 2023-05-11 — about 150,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.7 2 km NNE of Canyondam, California · 39 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 15 km NE of Mineral, California · 30 km N 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 40.1798, -121.5223. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Butte County, CA 58 km (36 mi) S earthquakes near Butte County
Tehama County, CA 61 km (38 mi) W earthquakes near Tehama County
Plumas County, CA 63 km (39 mi) ESE earthquakes near Plumas County
Shasta County, CA 78 km (49 mi) NW earthquakes near Shasta County
Lassen County, CA 97 km (60 mi) NE earthquakes near Lassen County
Glenn County, CA 99 km (61 mi) SW earthquakes near Glenn County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 2 km ESE of Canyondam, CA
  2. 3.5 2 km E of Canyondam, CA
  3. 2.4 2 km ENE of Canyondam, CA
  4. 2.6 2 km E of Canyondam, CA
  5. 2.5 2 km ENE of Canyondam, CA
  6. 2.2 2 km NE of Almanor, CA
  7. 1.8 2 km N of Almanor, CA
  8. 1.8 14 km NNE of Mineral, CA
  9. 1.8 17 km NNE of Mineral, CA
  10. 1.6 13 km NE of Mineral, CA
  11. 1.7 3 km ENE of Canyondam, California
  12. 2.1 6 km W of Twain, CA
  13. 1.7 5 km NW of Viola, CA
  14. 1.7 2 km E of Prattville, CA
  15. 1.9 2 km N of Prattville, 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.