Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Covelo, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Covelo in the 24 hours to 8:58 am PST (16:58 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 30 km (19 mi) north-northwest of Covelo, CA, at 6:15 am PST on 7 December 2025 (14:15 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 30 km NNW of Covelo, CA
- When
- 6:15 am PST on 7 December 2025 ()
- Where
- 30 km (19 mi) north-northwest of Covelo, CA · earthquakes near Covelo
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 66 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 330 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Covelo, 30 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 4.5 on 2016-08-28 — about 31,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 9 km S of Leggett, California · 38 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km ESE of Shelter Cove, California · 49 km W 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 40.0258, -123.4305. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | S | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Trinity County, CA | 74 km (46 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Trinity County |
| Humboldt County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
| Glenn County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Tehama County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | E | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Lake County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Lake County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 11 km N of Rockport, CA
- 1.6 11 km SW of Covelo, CA
- 2.8 11 km SW of Covelo, CA
- 2.6 11 km SW of Covelo, CA
- 1.6 11 km SW of Covelo, CA
- 1.7 11 km SW of Covelo, CA
- 1.7 6 km ESE of Redway, CA
- 1.9 16 km N of Covelo, CA
- 1.7 16 km N of Covelo, CA
- 3.1 5 km SW of Laytonville, CA
- 1.8 33 km SW of Hayfork, CA
- 2.3 43 km SSE of Hayfork, CA
- 1.6 9 km SW of Covelo, CA
- 2.0 16 km N of Laytonville, CA
- 2.6 16 km N of Laytonville, 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.