Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 2.6md
Earthquake near Saint Helena, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Saint Helena in the 24 hours to 1:26 am PST (09:26 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 11 km (7 mi) SSW, at 12:33 am PDT on 25 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Saint Helena
This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) northeast of Saint Helena, CA, at 8:51 am PST on 16 December 2024 (16:51 UTC), 8.8 km deep. 9 people have reported feeling it to USGS. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 3 km ENE of Saint Helena, CA
82 km (51 mi) N of San Francisco, CA · 24 km (15 mi) ENE of Santa Rosa, CA
- When
- 8:51 am PST on 16 December 2024 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) northeast of Saint Helena, CA · earthquakes near Saint Helena
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (md)
- Depth
- 8.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- 9 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Napa County, 10 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- West Napa fault, 4 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 691 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Saint Helena, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 23 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Saint Helena, 3 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.
Likely felt in: Angwin 6 km, intensity III · Calistoga 14 km, intensity II · Kenwood 15 km, intensity II · Agua Caliente 22 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 280 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 53,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 38,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.3× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 280 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 5.0 on 2016-12-14 — about 3,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 36 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 39 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.3 Northern California · 40 km WSW 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 38.5207, -122.4423. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Napa County, CA | 10 km (6 mi) | E | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | W | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Yolo County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Yolo County |
| Solano County, CA | 52 km (32 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Marin County, CA | 59 km (36 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Marin County |
| Lake County, CA | 70 km (44 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Lake County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 8 km WNW of Cobb, CA
- 1.5 9 km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.6 5 km NW of Cobb, CA
- 1.6 5 km WNW of Cobb, CA
- 1.7 6 km NNW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.8 5 km NNW of The Geysers, CA
- 2.0 6 km WNW of Cobb, CA
- 1.9 5 km WNW of Cobb, CA
- 4.7 4 km NW of Cobb, CA
- 1.9 4 km NW of Cobb, CA
- 1.6 3 km ESE of The Geysers, CA
- 1.8 8 km NNW of The Geysers, CA
- 2.2 10 km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.8 5 km SW of Kenwood, CA
- 2.4 5 km WNW of Cobb, 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.