QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Chester, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Chester in the 24 hours to 2:31 pm PST (22:31 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 17 km (11 mi) SE, at 8:09 am PDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Chester

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 30 km (19 mi) northwest of Chester, CA, at 3:45 am PDT on 6 July 2024 (10:45 UTC), 4.8 km deep.

USGS: 13 km NNE of Mineral, CA

83 km (51 mi) NNE of Chico, CA

3:45 am PDT, Jul 6, 2024 · · 4.8 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Shasta County 55 kmTehama County 71 kmPlumas County 79 kmLassen County 81 kmButte County 89 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
3:45 am PDT on 6 July 2024 ()
Where
30 km (19 mi) northwest of Chester, CA · earthquakes near Chester
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
4.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Shasta County, 55 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Hat Creek fault, 22 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 853 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Chester, 30 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 470,000 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 · 50 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 15 km NE of Mineral, California · 5 km ESE 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 40.4672, -121.5202. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Shasta County, CA 55 km (34 mi) NW earthquakes near Shasta County
Tehama County, CA 71 km (44 mi) WSW earthquakes near Tehama County
Plumas County, CA 79 km (49 mi) SE earthquakes near Plumas County
Lassen County, CA 81 km (50 mi) ENE earthquakes near Lassen County
Butte County, CA 89 km (56 mi) S earthquakes near Butte County
Glenn County, CA 122 km (76 mi) SW earthquakes near Glenn County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 5 km SE of Burney, CA
  2. 2.6 1 km NNW of Canyondam, CA
  3. 2.8 2 km NNW of Canyondam, CA
  4. 1.6 8 km NNE of Viola, CA
  5. 1.7 7 km NNE of Viola, CA
  6. 1.9 9 km SW of Chester, CA
  7. 2.0 8 km WSW of Manton, CA
  8. 1.9 9 km WSW of Shingletown, CA
  9. 2.7 1 km NE of Almanor, CA
  10. 1.5 13 km NNE of Viola, CA
  11. 1.7 28 km E of Viola, CA
  12. 1.9 1 km N of Almanor, CA
  13. 2.0 0 km SSE of Almanor, CA
  14. 1.9 2 km SW of Almanor, CA
  15. 2.2 17 km W of Manton, 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.