QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4ml

Earthquake near East Quincy, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in East Quincy in the 24 hours to 3:34 pm PST (23:34 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 6 km (3 mi) N, at 5:11 am PST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near East Quincy

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) east-northeast of East Quincy, CA, at 6:19 am PST on 11 December 2023 (14:19 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 81 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4 km ENE of East Quincy, CA

96 km (60 mi) WNW of Reno, NV

6:19 am PST, Dec 11, 2023 · · -0.1 km deep · released about 1.6 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Plumas County 5 kmSierra County 50 kmButte County 72 kmNevada County 73 kmYuba County 87 kmLassen County 87 kmPlacer County 99 kmTehama County 119 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
6:19 am PST on 11 December 2023 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) east-northeast of East Quincy, CA · earthquakes near East Quincy
Magnitude
M 3.4 (ml)
Depth
-0.1 km below the surface
Felt
81 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Nearest
Plumas County, 5 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Mohawk Valley fault, 9 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 319 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 55 km (34 mi) from the epicentre. In East Quincy, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: East Quincy 4 km, intensity III · Greenville 23 km, intensity III · Portola 36 km, intensity II · Westwood 42 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.6 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 110,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,700× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,300× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.6 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 3.3× 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 5.5 on 2023-05-11 — about 1,600 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 · 32 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 3 km N of Blairsden, California · 25 km SE 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 39.9480, -120.8488. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Plumas County, CA 5 km (3 mi) NNE earthquakes near Plumas County
Sierra County, CA 50 km (31 mi) SE earthquakes near Sierra County
Butte County, CA 72 km (45 mi) WSW earthquakes near Butte County
Nevada County, CA 73 km (45 mi) S earthquakes near Nevada County
Yuba County, CA 87 km (54 mi) SSW earthquakes near Yuba County
Lassen County, CA 87 km (54 mi) NNE earthquakes near Lassen County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 3 km NE of Almanor, CA
  2. 2.5 1 km ENE of Prattville, CA
  3. 2.9 0 km NNE of Whitehawk, CA
  4. 2.6 4 km S of Caribou, CA
  5. 2.4 1 km N of Almanor, CA
  6. 2.1 4 km WNW of Canyondam, CA
  7. 2.6 4 km WNW of Canyondam, CA
  8. 2.1 3 km NNE of Prattville, CA
  9. 2.3 3 km E of Prattville, CA
  10. 2.1 1 km W of Canyondam, CA
  11. 1.9 2 km NNE of Prattville, CA
  12. 1.7 3 km NW of Canyondam, CA
  13. 2.3 4 km S of Cromberg, CA
  14. 1.9 2 km NNW of Almanor, CA
  15. 2.0 1 km NNW of Almanor, 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.