QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Santa Rosa, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Rosa in the 24 hours to 4:09 am PST (12:09 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 5 km (3 mi) NE, at 2:01 pm PDT on 23 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Rosa

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 45 km (28 mi) north-northwest of Santa Rosa, CA, at 1:00 am PST on 17 January 2024 (09:00 UTC), 1.9 km deep.

USGS: 10 km NW of The Geysers, CA

44 km (28 mi) NNW of Santa Rosa, CA · 123 km (76 mi) NNW of San Francisco, CA

1:00 am PST, Jan 17, 2024 · · 1.9 km deep · released about 49 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lake County 32 kmSonoma County 34 kmNapa County 58 kmColusa County 66 kmYolo County 84 kmMendocino County 84 kmMarin County 87 kmGlenn County 94 kmSolano County 101 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
1:00 am PST on 17 January 2024 ()
Where
45 km (28 mi) north-northwest of Santa Rosa, CA · earthquakes near Santa Rosa
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
1.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lake County, 32 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Maacama 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 1024 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Rosa, 45 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: Cobb 11 km, intensity II · Cloverdale 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 49 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 310,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 220,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 49 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 5.0 on 2016-12-14 — about 20,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 38 km NNW 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 38.8288, -122.8517. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lake County, CA 32 km (20 mi) NNE earthquakes near Lake County
Sonoma County, CA 34 km (21 mi) S earthquakes near Sonoma County
Napa County, CA 58 km (36 mi) SE earthquakes near Napa County
Colusa County, CA 66 km (41 mi) NE earthquakes near Colusa County
Yolo County, CA 84 km (52 mi) E earthquakes near Yolo County
Mendocino County, CA 84 km (52 mi) NW earthquakes near Mendocino County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 10 km NW of The Geysers, CA
  2. 2.4 10 km WNW of The Geysers, CA
  3. 1.5 2 km ENE of The Geysers, CA
  4. 3.1 5 km NNE of Boonville, CA
  5. 1.8 7 km NW of The Geysers, CA
  6. 1.8 8 km NW of The Geysers, CA
  7. 2.1 4 km W of Cobb, CA
  8. 1.7 7 km NW of The Geysers, CA
  9. 1.8 8 km NW of The Geysers, CA
  10. 1.7 4 km W of Cobb, CA
  11. 1.6 7 km WNW of Cobb, CA
  12. 1.7 3 km of The Geysers, CA
  13. 1.8 6 km W of Cobb, CA
  14. 1.5 10 km WNW of The Geysers, CA
  15. 1.7 12 km ENE of Cloverdale, 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.