QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2md

Earthquake near Westhaven-Moonstone, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Westhaven-Moonstone in the 24 hours to 1:34 am PST (09:34 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 144 km (89 mi) WSW, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Westhaven-Moonstone

This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) northeast of Westhaven-Moonstone, CA, at 12:37 am PDT on 19 October 2023 (07:37 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 6 km NE of Westhaven-Moonstone, CA

12:37 am PDT, Oct 19, 2023 · · 17 km deep · released about 52 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Westhaven-Moonstone Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humboldt County 42 kmDel Norte County 75 kmTrinity County 92 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
12:37 am PDT on 19 October 2023 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) northeast of Westhaven-Moonstone, CA · earthquakes near Westhaven-Moonstone
Magnitude
M 2.2 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humboldt County, 42 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Bald Mountain-Big Lagoon 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 1116 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Westhaven-Moonstone, 5 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: McKinleyville, Blue Lake, Arcata, Bayside.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 52 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 290,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 18× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 52 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 4.8 on 2016-07-21 — about 9,400 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 1980 Eureka, California Earthquake · 18 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 The 1932 Eureka, California Earthquake · 43 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 Northwest of Eureka, California · 39 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 The 1954 Eureka-Arcata, California Earthquake · 28 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 Near Eureka, California · 31 km S 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 41.0730, -124.0488. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humboldt County, CA 42 km (26 mi) SSE earthquakes near Humboldt County
Del Norte County, CA 75 km (47 mi) N earthquakes near Del Norte County
Trinity County, CA 92 km (57 mi) ESE earthquakes near Trinity County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 11 km SSW of Willow Creek, CA
  2. 3.4 9 km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
  3. 2.0 14 km WNW of Willow Creek, CA
  4. 2.0 11 km W of Bayview, CA
  5. 2.1 9 km E of Willow Creek, CA
  6. 2.2 1 km NNE of Arcata, CA
  7. 2.9 14 km SE of Pine Hills, CA
  8. 2.3 17 km NNW of Trinidad, CA
  9. 2.9 13 km WNW of Bayview, CA
  10. 2.2 9 km SW of Humboldt Hill, CA
  11. 2.1 12 km NE of Westhaven-Moonstone, CA
  12. 2.2 17 km ESE of Pine Hills, CA
  13. 3.1 4 km WSW of Arcata, CA
  14. 2.1 4 km WNW of Humboldt Hill, CA
  15. 2.3 6 km WNW of Humboldt Hill, 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.