QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near Bayview, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bayview in the 24 hours to 4:03 pm PST (00:03 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 125 km (78 mi) WSW, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 145 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bayview

This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) west-northwest of Bayview, CA, at 9:33 pm PDT on 21 July 2025 (04:33 UTC), 25 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 13 km WNW of Bayview, CA

9:33 pm PDT, Jul 21, 2025 · · 25 km deep · released about 650 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bayview Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Humboldt County 36 kmTrinity County 105 kmDel Norte County 109 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
9:33 pm PDT on 21 July 2025 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) west-northwest of Bayview, CA · earthquakes near Bayview
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
25 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Humboldt County, 36 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Little Salmon fault, 9 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 405 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 20 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Bayview, 13 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.

Likely felt in: Eureka 15 km, intensity II · Humboldt Hill 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 650 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 23,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 650 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 180,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 29 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 The 1980 Eureka, California Earthquake · 36 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 The 1932 Eureka, California Earthquake · 9 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.5 30 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 45 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.5 The 2010 Eureka, California Earthquake · 34 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.4 Northwest of Eureka, California · 26 km NNW 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 40.8027, -124.3382. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Humboldt County, CA 36 km (23 mi) ESE earthquakes near Humboldt County
Trinity County, CA 105 km (65 mi) E earthquakes near Trinity County
Del Norte County, CA 109 km (68 mi) NNE earthquakes near Del Norte County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 6 km SSW of Fortuna, CA
  2. 1.7 11 km NNE of Petrolia, CA
  3. 1.7 4 km E of Ferndale, CA
  4. 1.6 4 km E of Ferndale, CA
  5. 2.1 12 km WSW of Rio Dell, CA
  6. 2.6 24 km WSW of Ferndale, CA
  7. 1.7 6 km SSW of Fortuna, CA
  8. 2.1 18 km SW of Ferndale, CA
  9. 1.7 6 km SSW of Fortuna, CA
  10. 2.1 14 km WSW of Ferndale, CA
  11. 1.8 6 km SSW of Fortuna, CA
  12. 1.9 18 km SW of Ferndale, CA
  13. 2.2 6 km NW of Petrolia, CA
  14. 2.0 14 km SW of Ferndale, CA
  15. 1.9 19 km WSW of Ferndale, 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.