Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 5.0mw
111 km W of Petrolia, CA
Yes. A magnitude 5.0 earthquake was recorded 111 km W of Petrolia, CA, at 8:56 pm PST on 4 November 2026 (04:56 UTC), 10 km deep. 124 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 5.0 (mw)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- 124 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 9 hours ago
This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 188 km (117 mi) from the epicentre. 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 420 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 6.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 410× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 13× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 5.0 about 420 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 870× more
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 5.8 on 2020-03-09 — about 16 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.0 65 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 50 km E 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 40.4073, -125.5853. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| felt reports | 123 | 124 | |
| felt reports | 122 | 123 | |
| measured intensity | 2.82 | 2.82 | |
| felt reports | 121 | 122 | |
| location | 114 km W of Petrolia, CA | 111 km W of Petrolia, CA | |
| longitude | -125.63 | -125.59 | |
| latitude | 40.43 | 40.41 | |
| depth | 2.14 | 10 | |
| felt reports | 120 | 121 | |
| felt reports | 119 | 120 | |
| felt reports | 118 | 119 | |
| felt reports | 117 | 118 |
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.