QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 2.7md

Earthquake near Red Bluff, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Red Bluff in the 24 hours to 6:31 am PST (14:31 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 97 km (60 mi) SW, at 5:01 am PDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Red Bluff

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) east-northeast of Red Bluff, CA, at 12:52 pm PDT on 19 September 2026 (19:52 UTC), 16 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 22 km SSW of Manton, CA

55 km (34 mi) NNW of Chico, CA · 49 km (31 mi) SE of Redding, CA

12:52 pm PDT, Sep 19, 2026 · · 16 km deep · released about 350 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Tehama County 25 kmShasta County 58 kmButte County 71 kmGlenn County 79 kmPlumas County 102 kmTrinity County 106 kmColusa County 120 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
12:52 pm PDT on 19 September 2026 ()
Where
23 km (14 mi) east-northeast of Red Bluff, CA · earthquakes near Red Bluff
Magnitude
M 2.7 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Tehama County, 25 km WSW
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 54 days ago

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 20 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Red Bluff, 23 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: Gerber, Los Molinos, Shingletown.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 350 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 43,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 31,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 350 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.5 15 km NE of Mineral, California · 50 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 40.2383, -121.9823. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Tehama County, CA 25 km (15 mi) WSW earthquakes near Tehama County
Shasta County, CA 58 km (36 mi) N earthquakes near Shasta County
Butte County, CA 71 km (44 mi) SSE earthquakes near Butte County
Glenn County, CA 79 km (49 mi) SSW earthquakes near Glenn County
Plumas County, CA 102 km (64 mi) ESE earthquakes near Plumas County
Trinity County, CA 106 km (66 mi) WNW earthquakes near Trinity County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

2 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.1 13 km SE of Millville, CA
  2. 2.3 15 km SE of Anderson, 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.