Reviewed by USGSCalifornia20y ago
M3.0 earthquake 41 km SW of Ferndale, California
Tuesday, April 25, 2006, 15:16:20 UTC · 40.327°N, 124.624°W
A magnitude 3.0 earthquake struck 41 km SW of Ferndale, California on Tuesday, April 25, 2006, 15:16:20 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.0
- Minor · ml
- Depth
- 25 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
477 kg of TNT
That is about 1/31,575 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1,000 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
2 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North American and Pacific plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
25 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 193 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.4123 km W of Big Lagoon, CaliforniaJanuary 31, 1922 · 127 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2The 1992 Petrolia, California EarthquakeApril 25, 1992 · 34 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2The 1980 Eureka, California EarthquakeNovember 8, 1980 · 93 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2153 km W of Big Lagoon, CaliforniaJune 15, 2005 · 155 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.1The 1923 Humboldt County, California EarthquakeJanuary 22, 1923 · 39 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.1121 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaSeptember 1, 1994 · 90 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0136 km WSW of Brookings, OregonAugust 17, 1991 · 182 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.9103 km W of Pistol River, OregonJuly 13, 1991 · 223 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 22 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 · 265 km away · intensity VIII
1 death$8 million damage
- 1954M6.6
Humboldt County
21 Dec 1954 · 84 km away
1 death$2 million damage
- 1932M6.5
Eureka
6 Jun 1932 · 53 km away · intensity VIII
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1992M7.1
Humboldt County: Ferndale, Petrolia
25 Apr 1992 · 26 km away · intensity VIII
$75 million damagetsunami
- 2000M5.0
Napa
3 Sep 2000 · 288 km away · intensity VII
$50 million damage
- 1980M7.2
North Coast
8 Nov 1980 · 93 km away · intensity VII
$2 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.