Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.2ml
Earthquake near Eureka, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Eureka in the 24 hours to 3:30 am PST (11:30 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 128 km (79 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 Eureka
This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 50 km (31 mi) east-southeast of Eureka, CA, at 5:26 am PST on 19 November 2023 (13:26 UTC), 23 km deep. 5 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 35 km S of Willow Creek, CA
- When
- 5:26 am PST on 19 November 2023 ()
- Where
- 50 km (31 mi) east-southeast of Eureka, CA · earthquakes near Eureka
- Magnitude
- M 3.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 23 km below the surface
- Felt
- 5 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Measured shaking
- intensity II (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Humboldt County, 27 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Bald Mountain-Big Lagoon fault, 22 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 1015 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Eureka, CA
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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 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 43 km (27 mi) from the epicentre. In Eureka, 50 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: Willow Creek 35 km, intensity II · Hayfork 38 km, intensity II · Rio Dell 43 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 150,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 6,900× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,900× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.2 about 1.1 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.3× more
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 5.3 on 2023-01-01 — about 1,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.4 The 1954 Eureka-Arcata, California Earthquake · 33 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Eureka, California · 37 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.6 15 km SW of Burnt Ranch, California · 10 km N of this epicentre
- 5.4 3 km NNW of Burnt Ranch, California · 26 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 2 km E of Rio Dell, California · 41 km WSW 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 40.6243, -123.6252. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Trinity County, CA | 43 km (27 mi) | E | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Tehama County, CA | 130 km (81 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Siskiyou County, CA | 141 km (88 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Siskiyou County |
| Glenn County, CA | 154 km (96 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Glenn 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.
- 2.0 12 km SE of Pine Hills, CA
- 1.8 2 km SE of Fortuna, CA
- 1.9 3 km ESE of Fortuna, CA
- 2.0 4 km ENE of Blue Lake, CA
- 1.6 26 km ESE of Rio Dell, CA
- 1.8 11 km of Hayfork, CA
- 2.1 18 km S of Willow Creek, CA
- 1.7 18 km ESE of Hydesville, CA
- 1.8 24 km NNE of Redway, CA
- 2.3 3 km ESE of Willow Creek, CA
- 1.6 26 km SE of Rio Dell, CA
- 2.4 19 km ENE of Willow Creek, CA
- 2.2 21 km W of Hayfork, CA
- 2.0 25 km WNW of Hayfork, CA
- 2.5 22 km S of Rio Dell, 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.