QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 2.3md

39 km W of Petrolia, CA

Yes. A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 39 km W of Petrolia, CA, at 3:15 am PST on 6 December 2024 (11:15 UTC), 17 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

· 17 km deep · released about 72 lb of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humboldt County 84 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
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Humboldt County, 84 km NE
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 707 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 9 km (6 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 72 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 210,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 150,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 72 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 7.0 on 2024-12-05 — about 13,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 40 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 The 1992 Petrolia, California Earthquake · 44 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 32 km SW of Ferndale, California · 20 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 6.5 30 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 23 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 6.5 The 2010 Eureka, California Earthquake · 42 km N of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 Offshore Humboldt County, California · 38 km SW 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 40.2772, -124.7463. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humboldt County, CA 84 km (52 mi) NE earthquakes near Humboldt County
Mendocino County, CA 146 km (90 mi) SE earthquakes near Mendocino County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 54 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  2. 3.5 63 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  3. 2.2 24 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  4. 1.8 26 km SSW of Petrolia, CA
  5. 2.6 16 km W of Petrolia, CA
  6. 2.5 17 km W of Petrolia, CA
  7. 3.6 49 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  8. 2.3 46 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  9. 2.2 16 km W of Petrolia, CA
  10. 2.0 16 km W of Petrolia, CA
  11. 3.0 18 km W of Petrolia, CA
  12. 2.4 26 km W of Petrolia, CA
  13. 3.7 17 km W of Petrolia, CA
  14. 2.1 26 km W of Petrolia, CA
  15. 2.3 36 km W 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.