Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3md
Earthquake near Alturas, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Alturas in the 24 hours to 5:08 am PST (13:08 UTC). The last one was M 5.7, 272 km (169 mi) SSE, at 6:29 pm PDT on 13 April 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 6,515 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Alturas
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) northeast of Alturas, CA, at 4:53 am PDT on 5 June 2025 (11:53 UTC), 3.2 km deep.
USGS: 21 km NNE of Cedarville, CA
- When
- 4:53 am PDT on 5 June 2025 ()
- Where
- 42 km (26 mi) northeast of Alturas, CA · earthquakes near Alturas
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (md)
- Depth
- 3.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Modoc County, 50 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Lake City fault, 6 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 525 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Alturas, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Alturas, CA. No account or email needed.
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 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 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Alturas, 42 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 210,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 150,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
- 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 4.1 on 2016-01-03 — about 600 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 41.7158, -120.1415. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modoc County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Modoc County |
| Washoe County, NV | 117 km (72 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Washoe County |
| Lassen County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Lassen County |
| Lake County, OR | 121 km (75 mi) | N | earthquakes near Lake County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 44 km ENE of Fort Bidwell, California
- 2.1 12 km SW of Lake City, California
- 2.1 40 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
- 2.3 42 km ESE of Fort Bidwell, California
- 1.5 42 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
- 1.6 45 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
- 1.7 45 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
- 1.9 43 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
- 1.7 44 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
- 1.7 43 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
- 1.6 45 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
- 2.0 43 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
- 3.2 45 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
- 1.6 43 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
- 2.0 45 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
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.