Reviewed by USGS35y ago
M3.0 earthquake near the coast of Northern California
Wednesday, March 25, 1992, 22:57:44 UTC · 40.213°N, 124.172°W
A magnitude 3.0 earthquake struck near the coast of Northern California on Wednesday, March 25, 1992, 22:57:44 UTC, at a depth of 12.4 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.0
- Minor · md
- Depth
- 12 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
567 kg of TNT
That is about 1/26,567 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 841 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
14 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
12 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 5 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M3.2 on March 26, 1992. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
- 3.119 km WSW of Weott, California34y ago · 5 km E of this epicenter
- 2.936 km SW of Ferndale, California34y ago · 43 km NW of this epicenter
- 2.533 km SSW of Ferndale, California34y ago · 29 km NW of this epicenter
- 2.938 km SW of Ferndale, California34y ago · 33 km W of this epicenter
- 3.238 km SW of Ferndale, California35y ago · 34 km W of this epicenter
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 150 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 · 163 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2The 1980 Eureka, California EarthquakeNovember 8, 1980 · 101 km N of this epicenter
- 7.1The 1923 Humboldt County, California EarthquakeJanuary 22, 1923 · 79 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0136 km WSW of Brookings, OregonAugust 17, 1991 · 216 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.9103 km W of Pistol River, OregonJuly 13, 1991 · 251 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.8123 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaNovember 25, 1954 · 133 km W of this epicenter
- 6.884 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaFebruary 9, 1941 · 104 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.8off the coast of Northern CaliforniaJuly 6, 1934 · 158 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 20 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 · 232 km away · intensity VIII
1 death$8 million damage
- 1954M6.6
Humboldt County
21 Dec 1954 · 74 km away
1 death$2 million damage
- 1932M6.5
Eureka
6 Jun 1932 · 58 km away · intensity VIII
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1992M7.1
Humboldt County: Ferndale, Petrolia
25 Apr 1992 · 21 km away · intensity VIII
$75 million damagetsunami
- 1980M7.2
North Coast
8 Nov 1980 · 101 km away · intensity VII
$2 million damage
- 1898M6.5
Sonoma County
31 Mar 1898 · 271 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.