Earthquake near Paradise, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Paradise in the 24 hours to 1:11 pm PST (21:11 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 2.1 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) north of Paradise, CA, at 5:49 am PST on 8 December 2023 (13:49 UTC), 7.0 km deep.

USGS: 19 km S of Mineral, CA

53 km (33 mi) NNE of Chico, CA

5:49 am PST, Dec 8, 2023 · 2023-12-08 13:49 UTC · 7.0 km deep · released about 46 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Paradise Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 5:49 am PST on 8 December 2023 (2023-12-08 13:49 UTC)
Where: 48 km (30 mi) north of Paradise, CA · earthquakes near Paradise
Magnitude: M 2.1 (md)
Depth: 7.0 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Butte County, 58 km S
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 1069 days ago · we first saw it 1069 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Paradise, 48 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 46 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 330,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 21× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.1 about 46 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 110,000 times the energy of this one.

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

5.7 2 km NNE of Canyondam, California · 40 km E of this epicentre May 24, 2013
5.5 15 km NE of Mineral, California · 30 km N of this epicentre Mar 20, 1950

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

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Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Butte County, CA	58 km (36 mi)	S	earthquakes near Butte County
Tehama County, CA	60 km (37 mi)	W	earthquakes near Tehama County
Plumas County, CA	64 km (40 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Plumas County
Shasta County, CA	77 km (48 mi)	NW	earthquakes near Shasta County
Lassen County, CA	97 km (60 mi)	NE	earthquakes near Lassen County
Glenn County, CA	98 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

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

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 21:11 UTC. 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.