Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Covelo, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Covelo in the 24 hours to 11:42 pm PST (07:42 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) N, at 3:31 pm PST on 10 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Covelo
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) west-northwest of Covelo, CA, at 4:09 am PDT on 17 September 2025 (11:09 UTC), 5.9 km deep.
USGS: 11 km WNW of Covelo, CA
- When
- 4:09 am PDT on 17 September 2025 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) west-northwest of Covelo, CA · earthquakes near Covelo
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 5.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 47 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Bartlett Springs fault system, under 1 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 414 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Covelo, 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 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Covelo, 11 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Laytonville.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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 2024-06-22 — about 15,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 33 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 39.8487, -123.3607. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | S | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Glenn County, CA | 86 km (54 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Trinity County, CA | 91 km (57 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Lake County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Tehama County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Humboldt County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Humboldt 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 16 km NW of Laytonville, CA
- 1.6 22 km SSE of Redway, CA
- 1.6 19 km NW of Laytonville, CA
- 2.0 21 km WNW of Alder Springs, CA
- 1.9 19 km NW of Laytonville, CA
- 2.5 20 km WNW of Alder Springs, CA
- 2.0 6 km NE of Willits, CA
- 2.3 10 km NNE of Brooktrails, CA
- 2.0 31 km NNW of Covelo, CA
- 1.5 30 km NNW of Covelo, CA
- 1.5 14 km WNW of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 2.1 25 km NNW of Alder Springs, CA
- 1.8 14 km N of Rockport, CA
- 2.2 10 km WNW of Laytonville, CA
- 1.9 16 km WNW of Lake Pillsbury, 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.