Earthquake near Crescent City, CA

USGS: 19 km WNW of Crescent City, California

12:22 pm PDT, Sep 12, 2016 · 2016-09-12 19:22 UTC · 8.3 km deep · released about 8.7 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: 12:22 pm PDT on 12 September 2016 (2016-09-12 19:22 UTC)
Where: 20 km (12 mi) WNW of Crescent City, CA · earthquakes near Crescent City
Magnitude: M 1.6 (ml)
Depth: 8.3 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Del Norte County, 37 km ESE
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3672 days ago · we first saw it 3672 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) WNW of Crescent City, CA, at 12:22 pm PDT on 12 September 2016 (19:22 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Fort Dick, Bertsch-Oceanview, Brookings, Harbor.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.7 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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:

5.9 5 km NNE of Hiouchi, California · 30 km E of this epicentre Aug 23, 1962

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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Epicentre 41.8375, -124.4152. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Del Norte County, CA	37 km (23 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Del Norte County
Curry County, OR	72 km (45 mi)	NNE	earthquakes near Curry County
Josephine County, OR	93 km (58 mi)	NE	earthquakes near Josephine County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1.9 16 km W of Crescent City, California 14:21 UTC
1.8 18 km NNE of Harbor, Oregon 22:04 UTC
1.7 18 km NNE of Harbor, Oregon 18:24 UTC
4.3 16 km WSW of Klamath, CA 05:26 UTC
2.5 11 km NW of Crescent City, CA 23:54 UTC
2.3 16 km WSW of Crescent City, California 19:47 UTC
2.8 12 km NW of Crescent City, CA 17:15 UTC
2.3 16km WNW of Klamath, CA 20:15 UTC
1.9 6 km ESE of Pistol River, Oregon 08:11 UTC
2.1 17 km WSW of Brookings, Oregon 07:55 UTC
2.5 24 km WSW of Brookings, Oregon 03:34 UTC
2.0 17 km WSW of Brookings, Oregon 05:53 UTC
2.6 14 km W of Brookings, Oregon 04:50 UTC
1.9 16 km W of Brookings, Oregon 04:01 UTC
2.6 near the coast of Oregon 02:19 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 01:42 UTC. 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.