QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Crescent City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Crescent City in the 24 hours to 2:26 am PST (10:26 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 162 km (101 mi) WNW, at 2:55 am PDT on 6 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Crescent City

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) south-southeast of Crescent City, CA, at 9:03 am PST on 14 January 2025 (17:03 UTC), 28 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 17 km SSE of Klamath, CA

9:03 am PST, Jan 14, 2025 · · 28 km deep · released about 860 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Crescent City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Del Norte County 40 kmHumboldt County 77 kmTrinity County 107 kmJosephine County 114 kmSiskiyou County 118 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
9:03 am PST on 14 January 2025 ()
Where
46 km (29 mi) south-southeast of Crescent City, CA · earthquakes near Crescent City
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
28 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Del Norte County, 40 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Bald Mountain-Big Lagoon fault, 25 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 602 days ago

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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Crescent City, 46 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 860 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 390,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 860 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 4.3 on 2024-01-23 — about 110 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 7.2 The 1980 Eureka, California Earthquake · 42 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.6 26 km NNW of Willow Creek, California · 30 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 4 km NE of Fieldbrook, California · 45 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 4 km NE of Fieldbrook, California · 45 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 41.3965, -123.9225. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Del Norte County, CA 40 km (25 mi) N earthquakes near Del Norte County
Humboldt County, CA 77 km (48 mi) S earthquakes near Humboldt County
Trinity County, CA 107 km (67 mi) SE earthquakes near Trinity County
Josephine County, OR 114 km (71 mi) NNE earthquakes near Josephine County
Siskiyou County, CA 118 km (73 mi) E earthquakes near Siskiyou County
Curry County, OR 121 km (75 mi) N earthquakes near Curry County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 10 km NNW of Willow Creek, CA
  2. 2.4 20 km SE of Klamath, CA
  3. 1.6 11 km NE of Blue Lake, CA
  4. 2.3 4 km ENE of Trinidad, CA
  5. 2.3 13 km E of Weitchpec, CA
  6. 1.9 12 km NE of Westhaven-Moonstone, CA
  7. 2.2 14 km NNW of Trinidad, CA
  8. 3.2 28 km NW of Trinidad, CA
  9. 2.4 8 km SSE of Weitchpec, CA
  10. 1.8 8 km ESE of Westhaven-Moonstone, CA
  11. 2.1 6 km NW of Somes Bar, CA
  12. 2.0 14 km WNW of Willow Creek, CA
  13. 2.4 14 km SSW of Crescent City, CA
  14. 2.3 17 km NNW of Trinidad, CA
  15. 2.1 12 km NE of Westhaven-Moonstone, 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.