QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.9mw

98 km W of Petrolia, CA

Yes. A magnitude 4.9 earthquake was recorded 98 km W of Petrolia, CA, at 7:09 am PST on 2 February 2024 (15:09 UTC), 10 km deep. 247 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 10 km deep · released about 360 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N
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
Magnitude
M 4.9 (mw)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
247 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Tsunami
USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 943 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 184 km (114 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 360 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 470× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 21× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 15× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.9 about 360 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 760× 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 5.8 on 2020-03-09 — about 19 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 61 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 41 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 60 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 44 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 62 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 47 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 65 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 38 km E 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 40.3893, -125.4448. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.2 62 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  2. 3.5 54 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  3. 3.9 59 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  4. 4.7 53 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  5. 7.0 2024 Offshore Cape Mendocino, California Earthquake
  6. 2.4 69 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  7. 2.9 129 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  8. 4.2 135 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  9. 4.4 145 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  10. 2.1 62 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  11. 2.8 76 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  12. 2.4 76 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  13. 2.9 123 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  14. 2.9 93 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  15. 3.4 80 km WNW of Petrolia, 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.