Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.9md
Earthquake near Ferndale, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Ferndale in the 24 hours to 2:45 am PST (10:45 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 113 km (70 mi) W, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Ferndale
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) north of Ferndale, CA, at 1:12 am PST on 10 December 2024 (09:12 UTC), 14 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 8 km NNE of Ferndale, CA
- When
- 1:12 am PST on 10 December 2024 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) north of Ferndale, CA · earthquakes near Ferndale
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (md)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Humboldt County, 28 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Little Salmon fault, 5 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 702 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ferndale, CA
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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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Ferndale, 8 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: Fortuna, Humboldt Hill, Pine Hills, Bayview, Cutten, Hydesville.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 25 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 620,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 440,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 39× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 4,900,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 40 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.2 The 1992 Petrolia, California Earthquake · 35 km S of this epicentre
- 6.6 32 km SW of Ferndale, California · 39 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.5 The 1932 Eureka, California Earthquake · 10 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.5 30 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 36 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.5 The 2010 Eureka, California Earthquake · 37 km W 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 40.6462, -124.2495. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt County, CA | 28 km (17 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Trinity County, CA | 96 km (59 mi) | E | earthquakes near Trinity County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
39 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 23 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.2 15 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 3.3 26 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.7 19 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.3 21 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.0 10 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.0 20 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.6 26 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.4 20 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.2 13 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 1.7 6 km WSW of Petrolia, CA
- 2.8 19 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.3 15 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
- 2.8 25 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.2 17 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.