QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Covelo, CA

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Covelo in the last 24 hours. M 2.3, 16 km (10 mi) WSW of Covelo, at 7:08 am PST on 13 November 2026 (15:08 UTC); the estimated shaking in Covelo was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Covelo

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 30 km (19 mi) east of Covelo, CA, at 1:47 pm PDT on 31 August 2024 (20:47 UTC), 2.9 km deep.

USGS: 24 km NNW of Alder Springs, CA

93 km (57 mi) W of Chico, CA

1:47 pm PDT, Aug 31, 2024 · · 2.9 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Glenn County 49 kmMendocino County 64 kmTehama County 66 kmLake County 81 kmColusa County 91 kmTrinity County 93 kmButte County 112 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
1:47 pm PDT on 31 August 2024 ()
Where
30 km (19 mi) east of Covelo, CA · earthquakes near Covelo
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
2.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Glenn County, 49 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Bartlett Springs fault system, 15 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 799 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 Covelo, 30 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 8.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 4.1 on 2021-11-04 — about 4,600 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.5 33 km NW of Rancho Tehama Reserve, California · 45 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 39.8238, -122.8973. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Glenn County, CA 49 km (30 mi) ESE earthquakes near Glenn County
Mendocino County, CA 64 km (40 mi) SW earthquakes near Mendocino County
Tehama County, CA 66 km (41 mi) ENE earthquakes near Tehama County
Lake County, CA 81 km (50 mi) S earthquakes near Lake County
Colusa County, CA 91 km (57 mi) SE earthquakes near Colusa County
Trinity County, CA 93 km (58 mi) NNW earthquakes near Trinity County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 20 km NW of Alder Springs, CA
  2. 2.0 21 km NW of Alder Springs, CA
  3. 2.1 21 km NW of Alder Springs, CA
  4. 1.7 7 km E of Covelo, CA
  5. 2.1 23 km NW of Alder Springs, CA
  6. 1.9 26 km N of Alder Springs, CA
  7. 2.3 37 km NNE of Covelo, CA
  8. 1.5 8 km ENE of Lake Pillsbury, CA
  9. 1.7 25 km NW of Alder Springs, CA
  10. 1.6 25 km E of Covelo, CA
  11. 2.3 25 km N of Alder Springs, CA
  12. 2.1 23 km NNE of Alder Springs, CA
  13. 2.1 14 km SSE of Covelo, CA
  14. 2.2 14 km SSE of Covelo, CA
  15. 2.8 14 km SSE of Covelo, 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.