QuakeIndex

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

5:41 pm PDT, Aug 13, 2026 · · 4.2 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Napa County 25 kmSonoma County 41 kmLake County 52 kmYolo County 52 kmColusa County 60 kmSolano County 67 kmMarin County 73 kmSutter County 79 kmContra Costa County 97 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
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

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. 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:

  1. 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 49 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 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

PlaceDistanceDirection 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.

  1. 2.3 3 km SSW of Cobb, CA
  2. 1.9 2 km E of The Geysers, CA
  3. 1.5 5 km WNW of Cobb, CA
  4. 1.8 5 km NW of The Geysers, CA
  5. 1.6 4 km W of Cobb, CA
  6. 2.3 2 km N of The Geysers, CA
  7. 1.6 6 km SE of Cloverdale, CA
  8. 3.3 3 km ESE of Larkfield-Wikiup, CA
  9. 1.6 8 km ESE of Cloverdale, CA
  10. 1.6 7 km WNW of Cobb, CA
  11. 1.5 11 km ENE of Hidden Valley Lake, CA
  12. 1.9 4 km SSE of Cloverdale, CA
  13. 2.4 2 km N of Middletown, CA
  14. 1.5 2 km NNW of The Geysers, CA
  15. 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.