Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Redwood Valley, CA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Redwood Valley in the last 24 hours. M 2.4, 6 km (4 mi) N of Redwood Valley, at 3:48 am PDT on 20 October 2026 (10:48 UTC); the estimated shaking in Redwood Valley was intensity III (weak). Every earthquake near Redwood Valley
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) northwest of Redwood Valley, CA, at 5:59 am PDT on 17 October 2026 (12:59 UTC), 5.9 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 9 km NW of Redwood Valley, CA
- When
- 5:59 am PDT on 17 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 9 km (5 mi) northwest of Redwood Valley, CA · earthquakes near Redwood Valley
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 5.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mendocino County, 19 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Maacama fault, 5 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 3 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Redwood Valley, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Redwood Valley, 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 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 Redwood Valley, 9 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.
Likely felt in: Redwood Valley 9 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 5.6 on 2026-06-24 — about 970,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 6 km ESE of Talmage, California · 27 km SE 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 39.3205, -123.2743. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino County, CA | 19 km (12 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mendocino County |
| Lake County, CA | 51 km (32 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Glenn County, CA | 81 km (50 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Glenn County |
| Colusa County, CA | 91 km (56 mi) | E | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Sonoma County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Sonoma County |
| Napa County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Napa 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.