Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 2.7md
Earthquake near Rio Dell, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Rio Dell in the 24 hours to 12:25 am PST (08:25 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 126 km (78 mi) W, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Rio Dell
This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 44 km (27 mi) southwest of Rio Dell, CA, at 3:57 am PST on 15 December 2024 (11:57 UTC), 1.1 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 20 km SW of Petrolia, CA
- When
- 3:57 am PST on 15 December 2024 ()
- Where
- 44 km (27 mi) southwest of Rio Dell, CA · earthquakes near Rio Dell
- Magnitude
- M 2.7 (md)
- Depth
- 1.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Humboldt County, 72 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mattole Canyon fault, 7 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 698 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Rio Dell, CA
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Alerts are on for .
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This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 25 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Rio Dell, 44 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 340 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 45,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 32,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.8× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.7 about 340 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 350,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 35 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.2 The 1992 Petrolia, California Earthquake · 23 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.6 32 km SW of Ferndale, California · 27 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.5 30 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 32 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Rio Dell, California · 40 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.0 44 km SW of Shelter Cove, California · 49 km S 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 40.1713, -124.3997. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Mendocino County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Trinity County, CA | 121 km (75 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 20 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 3.1 49 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.0 13 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 1.7 4 km NNW of Redway, CA
- 2.8 24 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.1 27 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.2 28 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.3 26 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
- 2.8 33 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.7 28 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 3.2 21 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.7 19 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.7 18 km SW of Petrolia, CA
- 2.2 13 km W of Petrolia, CA
- 2.6 14 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
- 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.