QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Inverness, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Inverness in the 24 hours to 9:18 pm PST (05:18 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 46 km (29 mi) NNE, at 10:33 am PDT on 3 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,843 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Inverness

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) northeast of Inverness, CA, at 10:53 am PST on 5 December 2024 (18:53 UTC), 1.4 km deep. 8 people have reported feeling it to USGS. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 6 km NE of Inverness, CA

53 km (33 mi) NW of San Francisco, CA · 19 km (12 mi) SW of Petaluma, CA

10:53 am PST, Dec 5, 2024 · · 1.4 km deep · released about 22 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Marin County 12 kmSonoma County 44 kmSan Francisco County 50 kmNapa County 58 kmSolano County 77 kmContra Costa County 79 kmSan Mateo County 90 kmAlameda County 96 kmYolo County 99 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
10:53 am PST on 5 December 2024 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) northeast of Inverness, CA · earthquakes near Inverness
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
1.4 km below the surface
Felt
8 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Marin County, 12 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 6 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 694 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Inverness, 6 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Lagunitas-Forest Knolls, Petaluma, Woodacre, Novato, Penngrove, Cotati.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 22 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 680,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 480,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 43× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 22 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 4.4 on 2022-09-14 — about 5,200 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 49 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 44 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 19 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 Northern California · 20 km N 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 38.1438, -122.8088. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Marin County, CA 12 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near Marin County
Sonoma County, CA 44 km (27 mi) NNW earthquakes near Sonoma County
San Francisco County, CA 50 km (31 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Francisco County
Napa County, CA 58 km (36 mi) NE earthquakes near Napa County
Solano County, CA 77 km (48 mi) E earthquakes near Solano County
Contra Costa County, CA 79 km (49 mi) ESE earthquakes near Contra Costa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 7 km ESE of Santa Venetia, CA
  2. 3.2 2 km NW of Pinole, CA
  3. 1.9 1 km NE of Rodeo, CA
  4. 1.5 5 km NE of Windsor, CA
  5. 2.1 7 km NE of Larkfield-Wikiup, CA
  6. 2.2 5 km NE of Windsor, CA
  7. 2.1 1 km NNW of San Pablo, CA
  8. 2.4 1 km NNW of San Pablo, CA
  9. 1.5 1 km of San Pablo, CA
  10. 2.6 6 km WNW of Yountville, CA
  11. 2.8 3 km ESE of Santa Rosa, CA
  12. 1.6 5 km NE of Kenwood, CA
  13. 1.6 9 km W of Lagunitas-Forest Knolls, CA
  14. 1.5 5 km WSW of Cotati, CA
  15. 1.5 0 km SSE of San Pablo, 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.