Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.8mw
89 km WSW of Crescent City, CA
Yes. A magnitude 4.8 earthquake was recorded 89 km WSW of Crescent City, CA, at 9:58 pm PDT on 8 May 2026 (04:58 UTC), 26 km deep. 28 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 4.8 (mw)
- Depth
- 26 km below the surface
- Felt
- 28 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Nearest
- Del Norte County, 106 km ENE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 48 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Crescent City, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Crescent City, 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 168 km (104 mi) from the epicentre. 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 240 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 710× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.8 about 240 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 500× 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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. The previous largest was M 4.6 on 2017-07-29.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.5 52 km WNW of Big Lagoon, California · 46 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.0 72 km WSW of Crescent City, California · 18 km E of this epicentre
- 5.3 71 km W of Trinidad, California · 46 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.0 53 km WNW of Big Lagoon, California · 46 km ESE 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 41.5027, -125.2180. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Del Norte County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Del Norte County |
| Curry County, OR | 136 km (84 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Curry County |
| Humboldt County, CA | 140 km (87 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Humboldt County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
3 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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.