Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 2.4md
Earthquake near Willows, CA
USGS: 16 km ENE of Willows, CA
26 km (16 mi) SW of Chico, CA · 125 km (78 mi) NNW of Sacramento, CA
- When
- 12:00 pm PDT on 2 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) ENE of Willows, CA · earthquakes near Willows
- Magnitude
- M 2.4 (md)
- Depth
- 21 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Glenn County, 31 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 22 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 7 hours ago
A magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) ENE of Willows, CA, at 12:00 pm PDT on 2 October 2026 (19:00 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Hamilton City, Orland, Durham, Chico.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 120,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 86,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.7× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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:
- 5.7 The 1975 Oroville, California Earthquake · 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 39.6002, -122.0400. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glenn County, CA | 31 km (19 mi) | W | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Butte County, CA | 38 km (24 mi) | E | earthquakes near Butte County |
| Colusa County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Tehama County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Tehama County |
| Sutter County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Sutter County |
| Yuba County, CA | 70 km (44 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Yuba County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
No further 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.