Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1ml
Earthquake near Colusa, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Colusa in the 24 hours to 4:31 am PST (12:31 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 87 km (54 mi) WNW, at 5:01 am PDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Colusa
This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Colusa, CA, at 10:26 am PDT on 17 March 2026 (17:26 UTC), 24 km deep. 23 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 9 km ENE of Colusa, CA
85 km (53 mi) NNW of Sacramento, CA · 27 km (17 mi) WNW of Yuba City, CA
- When
- 10:26 am PDT on 17 March 2026 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Colusa, CA · earthquakes near Colusa
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 24 km below the surface
- Felt
- 23 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Colusa County, 29 km WSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 170 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Colusa, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Colusa, 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 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 34 km (21 mi) from the epicentre. In Colusa, 9 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: Sutter, Williams, Gridley, Maxwell, Biggs, South Yuba City.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,400 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 240,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,700× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,400 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.5× 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 4.2 on 2022-07-23 — about 50 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.7 The 1975 Oroville, California Earthquake · 38 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.2 4 km E of Palermo, California · 42 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.1 5 km ENE of Palermo, California · 43 km ENE 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 39.2487, -121.9140. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colusa County, CA | 29 km (18 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Sutter County, CA | 30 km (18 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Sutter County |
| Yuba County, CA | 49 km (31 mi) | E | earthquakes near Yuba County |
| Butte County, CA | 53 km (33 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Butte County |
| Glenn County, CA | 57 km (36 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Yolo County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | S | earthquakes near Yolo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
10 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 16 km ENE of Willows, CA
- 2.0 14 km S of Hamilton City, CA
- 2.0 5 km E of Williams, CA
- 1.9 7 km ESE of Williams, CA
- 2.5 15 km S of Hamilton City, CA
- 2.0 17 km E of Willows, CA
- 1.9 19 km E of Willows, CA
- 1.9 8 km WSW of Arbuckle, CA
- 2.4 9 km S of Hamilton City, CA
- 2.2 9 km SSW of South Yuba City, 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.