Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3md
53 km W of Ferndale, CA
Yes. A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 53 km W of Ferndale, CA, at 4:45 pm PDT on 3 June 2024 (23:45 UTC), 19 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (md)
- Depth
- 19 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Humboldt County, 84 km ENE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 877 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ferndale, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Ferndale, CA. No account or email needed.
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 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 7 km (4 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 94 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 160,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 94 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 6.4 on 2022-12-20 — about 1,300,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 29 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 32 km SW of Ferndale, California · 30 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.5 30 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 27 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.5 The 2010 Eureka, California Earthquake · 23 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.0 53 km SW of Ferndale, California · 32 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.0 near the coast of Northern California · 27 km NNE 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 40.4972, -124.8772. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Humboldt 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.
- 2.2 21 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.9 25 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
- 1.6 9 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 1.7 9 km WSW of Petrolia, CA
- 1.7 22 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
- 1.9 24 km NW of Petrolia, CA
- 1.7 11 km WSW of Petrolia, CA
- 2.6 94 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
- 1.6 18 km WSW of Ferndale, CA
- 2.9 71 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 1.9 29 km NW of Petrolia, CA
- 1.8 28 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 1.6 6 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 1.7 28 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.3 46 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
- 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.