QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8ml

164 km W of Ferndale, California

Yes. A magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 164 km W of Ferndale, California at 14:07 UTC on 2023-10-13, 15 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

· 15 km deep · released about 480 lb of TNT

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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
Magnitude
M 2.8 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity I
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1063 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 22 km (14 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 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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 6.6 on 2016-12-08 — about 500,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 40.3867, -126.1877. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 136 km W of Ferndale, California
  2. 3.8 161 km W of Ferndale, California
  3. 2.9 137 km W of Petrolia, CA
  4. 2.6 155 km W of Ferndale, California
  5. 3.0 151 km W of Ferndale, California
  6. 2.6 149 km W of Ferndale, California
  7. 2.7 171 km W of Ferndale, California
  8. 2.9 162 km W of Ferndale, California
  9. 3.0 134 km W of Petrolia, CA
  10. 3.2 175 km W of Ferndale, California
  11. 2.6 156 km W of Ferndale, California
  12. 2.7 157 km W of Ferndale, California
  13. 3.8 163 km W of Ferndale, California
  14. 2.8 137 km WNW of Petrolia, CA
  15. 3.1 152 km W of Ferndale, California

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.