Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Middletown, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Middletown in the 24 hours to 1:37 pm PST (21:37 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (6 mi) WNW, at 5:12 am PST on 10 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Middletown
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) southeast of Middletown, CA, at 5:41 pm PDT on 13 August 2026 (00:41 UTC), 4.2 km deep.
USGS: 13 km SE of Middletown, CA
32 km (20 mi) NE of Santa Rosa, CA · 101 km (63 mi) N of San Francisco, CA
- When
- 5:41 pm PDT on 13 August 2026 ()
- Where
- 13 km (8 mi) southeast of Middletown, CA · earthquakes near Middletown
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 4.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Napa County, 25 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Hunting Creek-Berryessa fault system, 8 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 78 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Middletown, 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 Middletown, 13 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: Angwin, Calistoga, Hidden Valley Lake, Deer Park, Saint Helena, Cobb.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.7 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 2,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 5.0 on 2016-12-14 — about 170,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 49 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.3 Northern California · 49 km SW 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 38.6830, -122.5005. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Napa County, CA | 25 km (15 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 41 km (25 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Lake County, CA | 52 km (32 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Yolo County, CA | 52 km (32 mi) | E | earthquakes near Yolo County |
| Colusa County, CA | 60 km (37 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Solano County, CA | 67 km (42 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Solano County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 3 km SSW of Cobb, CA
- 1.9 2 km E of The Geysers, CA
- 1.5 5 km WNW of Cobb, CA
- 1.8 5 km NW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.6 4 km W of Cobb, CA
- 2.3 2 km N of The Geysers, CA
- 1.6 6 km SE of Cloverdale, CA
- 3.3 3 km ESE of Larkfield-Wikiup, CA
- 1.6 8 km ESE of Cloverdale, CA
- 1.6 7 km WNW of Cobb, CA
- 1.5 11 km ENE of Hidden Valley Lake, CA
- 1.9 4 km SSE of Cloverdale, CA
- 2.4 2 km N of Middletown, CA
- 1.5 2 km NNW of The Geysers, CA
- 1.9 8 km SE of Soda Bay, 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.