Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.4mw
Earthquake near Willits, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Willits in the 24 hours to 7:15 pm PST (03:15 UTC). The last one was M 1.5, 9 km (5 mi) ESE, at 10:30 pm PST on 2 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Willits
This page: a magnitude 4.4 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) east-southeast of Willits, CA, at 1:10 pm PST on 13 January 2026 (21:10 UTC), 8.5 km deep. 414 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 9 km ESE of Willits, CA
- When
- 1:10 pm PST on 13 January 2026 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) east-southeast of Willits, CA · earthquakes near Willits
- Magnitude
- M 4.4 (mw)
- Depth
- 8.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- 414 reports · strongest reported intensity V
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 17 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Maacama fault, 5 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 50 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Willits, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Willits, 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 light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 131 km (81 mi) from the epicentre. In Willits, 9 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: Willits 9 km, intensity IV · Brooktrails 13 km, intensity IV · Ukiah 27 km, intensity III · Laytonville 38 km, intensity III · Upper Lake 39 km, intensity III · Boonville 44 km, intensity III · Covelo 45 km, intensity III · Fort Bragg 48 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 64 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 2,600× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 120× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 83× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.4 about 64 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 130× more
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 5.1 on 2016-08-10 — about 10 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 33 km SSE 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 39.3922, -123.2513. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 17 km (11 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Lake County, CA | 54 km (33 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Glenn County, CA | 77 km (48 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Colusa County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Tehama County, CA | 119 km (74 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Tehama 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.
- 1.8 7 km N of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 1.6 7 km N of Lake Pillsbury, CA
- 1.7 9 km NNE of Brooktrails, CA
- 1.9 14 km E of Willits, CA
- 2.2 12 km SSE of Laytonville, CA
- 1.7 3 km SSE of Redwood Valley, CA
- 2.1 10 km NNE of Talmage, CA
- 2.0 3 km SSE of Redwood Valley, CA
- 1.9 10 km NNE of Talmage, CA
- 2.3 6 km SSE of Willits, CA
- 2.0 13 km W of Alder Springs, CA
- 1.8 2 km S of Redwood Valley, CA
- 2.1 15 km N of Brooktrails, CA
- 2.2 2 km S of Redwood Valley, CA
- 1.6 15 km N of Brooktrails, 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.