M4.6 earthquake 58 km WSW of Ferndale, California

Tuesday, May 26, 1981, 11:41:04 UTC · 40.370°N, 124.904°W

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 58 km WSW of Ferndale, California on Tuesday, May 26, 1981, 11:41:04 UTC, at a depth of 1.9 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.7 on March 15, 1981.

Magnitude: 4.6; Light · ml
Depth: 2 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: —; No ShakeMap
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

120 tons of TNT

That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

6 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and Juan de Fuca plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

2 km

Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.

Did You Feel It?

Where it was felt

No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.

I felt it — report to USGS ↗

USGS PAGER estimate

Who was exposed to shaking

USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.

After the main event

Aftershocks within 50 km

USGS lists 26 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.3 on June 14, 1981. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 133 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 15 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 3 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1969M4.8
Santa Rosa
2 Oct 1969 · 284 km away · intensity VIII
1 death$8 million damage
1954M6.6
Humboldt County
21 Dec 1954 · 100 km away
1 death$2 million damage
1932M6.5
Eureka
6 Jun 1932 · 66 km away · intensity VIII
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)
1980M7.2
North Coast
8 Nov 1980 · 100 km away · intensity VII
$2 million damage
1865
Sonoma County: E Central
7 Mar 1865 · 293 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
1865
Fort Humboldt, Eureka
1 Oct 1865 · 78 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers