M1.7 earthquake 26 km SSW of Ferndale, California

Magnitude

1.7 (Md, duration), micro

Magnitude from

Northern California Seismic System

Local time

Fri, Oct 20, 1978, 11:10 PM PDT

UTC

1978-10-21 06:10:07 UTC

Depth

19.1 km (11.9 mi), shallow

Epicenter

40.376° N, 124.433° W

Region

California

Tsunami flag

No

Status

Reviewed by a seismologist

Location uncertainty

About 1.7 km horizontally, 0.5 km in depth

Depth from

From location

Station coverage gap

253°, poorly surrounded by stations

Stations used

12

• Ferndale, CaliforniaPopulation 1,369. Forecast26 kmSSW
• Fortuna, CaliforniaPopulation 12,000. Forecast34 kmSW
• Chico, CaliforniaPopulation 121,345. Forecast232 kmWNW
• Los Angeles, CaliforniaPopulation 3,820,914. Forecast891 kmNW

After

1. 1.626 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Oct 20, 11:19 PM PDT · 17512 days ago · 18 km deep · 4 km away
2. 1.526 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Oct 21, 1:23 AM PDT · 17512 days ago · 18 km deep · 0 km away
3. 1.734 km NW of Shelter Cove, CaliforniaSat, Oct 21, 7:17 AM PDT · 17512 days ago · 5 km deep · 18 km away
4. 1.524 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Oct 21, 9:58 AM PDT · 17512 days ago · 24 km deep · 15 km away
5. 2.868 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Oct 21, 11:54 AM PDT · 17512 days ago · 24 km deep · 63 km away
6. 1.625 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Oct 21, 6:07 PM PDT · 17512 days ago · 19 km deep · 1 km away
7. 2.85 km E of Redcrest, CaliforniaSat, Oct 21, 8:34 PM PDT · 17511 days ago · 21 km deep · 46 km away
8. 1.6Northern CaliforniaSat, Oct 21, 8:51 PM PDT · 17511 days ago · 17 km deep · 45 km away
9. 1.614 km WSW of Scotia, CaliforniaSun, Oct 22, 2:38 PM PDT · 17511 days ago · 20 km deep · 16 km away
10. 1.918 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Oct 22, 10:17 PM PDT · 17510 days ago · 25 km deep · 9 km away
11. 1.514 km WNW of Fields Landing, CaliforniaMon, Oct 23, 7:39 AM PDT · 17510 days ago · 24 km deep · 43 km away
12. 1.833 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaMon, Oct 23, 12:56 PM PDT · 17510 days ago · 22 km deep · 10 km away
13. 1.727 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaMon, Oct 23, 9:08 PM PDT · 17509 days ago · 7 km deep · 14 km away
14. 1.68 km S of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Oct 24, 5:06 AM PDT · 17509 days ago · 6 km deep · 20 km away
15. 1.627 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Oct 26, 3:36 AM PDT · 17507 days ago · 17 km deep · 12 km away
16. 1.958 km WNW of Indianola, CaliforniaThu, Oct 26, 6:09 AM PDT · 17507 days ago · 7 km deep · 66 km away
17. 1.726 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaThu, Oct 26, 1:34 PM PDT · 17507 days ago · 7 km deep · 15 km away
18. 1.624 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Oct 28, 1:45 PM PDT · 17505 days ago · 19 km deep · 2 km away
19. 1.736 km WNW of Samoa, CaliforniaSat, Oct 28, 2:33 PM PDT · 17505 days ago · 13 km deep · 63 km away
20. 3.327 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Oct 28, 9:33 PM PDT · 17504 days ago · 19 km deep · 1 km away
21. 1.727 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Oct 28, 10:00 PM PDT · 17504 days ago · 23 km deep · 1 km away
22. 3.837 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Oct 28, 11:50 PM PDT · 17504 days ago · 23 km deep · 11 km away
23. 2.237 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Oct 28, 11:53 PM PDT · 17504 days ago · 22 km deep · 12 km away
24. 2.136 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Oct 29, 3:02 PM PST · 17504 days ago · 24 km deep · 10 km away
25. 1.99 km NE of Mad River, CaliforniaSun, Oct 29, 3:18 PM PST · 17504 days ago · 38 km deep · 87 km away
26. 2.117 km WSW of Scotia, CaliforniaSun, Oct 29, 10:18 PM PST · 17503 days ago · 19 km deep · 13 km away
27. 1.624 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaMon, Oct 30, 2:18 AM PST · 17503 days ago · 26 km deep · 11 km away
28. 1.921 km W of Indianola, CaliforniaMon, Oct 30, 9:50 AM PST · 17503 days ago · 23 km deep · 39 km away
29. 2.63 km WNW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Oct 30, 8:17 PM PST · 17502 days ago · 21 km deep · 27 km away
30. 1.888 km W of Trinidad, CaliforniaTue, Oct 31, 7:44 AM PST · 17502 days ago · 5 km deep · 99 km away
31. 1.625 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Nov 1, 6:39 PM PST · 17500 days ago · 17 km deep · 12 km away
32. 1.940 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Nov 1, 11:18 PM PST · 17500 days ago · 21 km deep · 16 km away
33. 1.642 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Nov 2, 1:34 AM PST · 17500 days ago · 21 km deep · 38 km away
34. 1.724 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Nov 2, 5:48 AM PST · 17500 days ago · 18 km deep · 10 km away
35. 1.625 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Nov 2, 5:24 PM PST · 17500 days ago · 18 km deep · 1 km away
36. 2.323 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Nov 2, 7:25 PM PST · 17499 days ago · 18 km deep · 8 km away
37. 1.623 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Nov 2, 9:34 PM PST · 17499 days ago · 17 km deep · 10 km away
38. 1.614 km WSW of Scotia, CaliforniaThu, Nov 2, 11:56 PM PST · 17499 days ago · 28 km deep · 16 km away
39. 2.841 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Nov 3, 12:52 AM PST · 17499 days ago · 24 km deep · 17 km away
40. 2.242 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Nov 3, 7:42 AM PST · 17499 days ago · 22 km deep · 18 km away
41. 3.040 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Nov 3, 7:44 AM PST · 17499 days ago · 22 km deep · 16 km away
42. 2.139 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Nov 3, 8:35 PM PST · 17498 days ago · 14 km deep · 13 km away
43. 1.816 km WSW of Scotia, CaliforniaSat, Nov 4, 8:29 PM PST · 17497 days ago · 20 km deep · 14 km away
44. 1.744 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Nov 4, 9:18 PM PST · 17497 days ago · 17 km deep · 20 km away
45. 2.04 km N of Redcrest, CaliforniaSun, Nov 5, 12:21 AM PST · 17497 days ago · 21 km deep · 41 km away
46. 2.557 km WNW of Samoa, CaliforniaSun, Nov 5, 7:24 PM PST · 17496 days ago · 10 km deep · 77 km away
47. 1.69 km S of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Nov 6, 11:30 AM PST · 17496 days ago · 18 km deep · 19 km away
48. 1.743 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Nov 6, 2:12 PM PST · 17496 days ago · 20 km deep · 19 km away
49. 1.731 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Nov 6, 7:29 PM PST · 17495 days ago · 25 km deep · 6 km away
50. 1.616 km WSW of Scotia, CaliforniaMon, Nov 6, 9:23 PM PST · 17495 days ago · 19 km deep · 14 km away
51. 1.626 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Nov 7, 2:56 AM PST · 17495 days ago · 17 km deep · 12 km away
52. 1.632 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Nov 7, 3:05 AM PST · 17495 days ago · 10 km deep · 7 km away
53. 3.162 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Nov 7, 9:58 AM PST · 17495 days ago · 25 km deep · 46 km away
54. 1.54 km WSW of Weott, CaliforniaTue, Nov 7, 10:46 AM PST · 17495 days ago · 25 km deep · 40 km away
55. 1.863 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Nov 7, 11:24 AM PST · 17495 days ago · 2 km deep · 46 km away
56. 1.79 km S of Burnt Ranch, CaliforniaTue, Nov 7, 11:47 AM PST · 17495 days ago · 20 km deep · 91 km away
57. 1.99 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaTue, Nov 7, 12:30 PM PST · 17495 days ago · 23 km deep · 23 km away
58. 2.019 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Nov 7, 5:10 PM PST · 17495 days ago · 32 km deep · 7 km away
59. 1.739 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Nov 8, 3:51 AM PST · 17494 days ago · 26 km deep · 14 km away
60. 1.62 km WSW of McKinleyville, CaliforniaWed, Nov 8, 5:42 AM PST · 17494 days ago · 21 km deep · 68 km away

The first 60 of 147.

Before

1. 2.726 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Oct 20, 10:54 PM PDT · 17512 days ago · 19 km deep · 0 km away
2. 2.926 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Oct 20, 9:58 PM PDT · 17512 days ago · 19 km deep · 1 km away
3. 2.112 km S of Ruth, CaliforniaFri, Oct 20, 8:28 PM PDT · 17512 days ago · 2 km deep · 96 km away
4. 1.543 km WNW of Samoa, CaliforniaThu, Oct 19, 9:44 PM PDT · 17513 days ago · 13 km deep · 66 km away
5. 2.145 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Oct 18, 1:14 PM PDT · 17515 days ago · 36 km deep · 25 km away
6. 4.276 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Oct 15, 9:23 PM PDT · 17517 days ago · 55 km deep · 63 km away
7. 3.718 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Oct 15, 7:18 PM PDT · 17517 days ago · 23 km deep · 12 km away
8. 1.779 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Oct 15, 5:46 PM PDT · 17518 days ago · 5 km deep · 63 km away
9. 4.3off the coast of Northern CaliforniaSun, Oct 15, 12:55 PM PDT · 17518 days ago · 56 km deep · 68 km away
10. 2.643 km WNW of Indianola, CaliforniaSun, Oct 15, 12:00 PM PDT · 17518 days ago · 20 km deep · 55 km away
11. 1.64 km NW of McKinleyville, CaliforniaSun, Oct 15, 5:27 AM PDT · 17518 days ago · 20 km deep · 72 km away
12. 1.69 km S of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Oct 15, 5:15 AM PDT · 17518 days ago · 18 km deep · 19 km away
13. 2.19 km NNE of Redcrest, CaliforniaSun, Oct 15, 12:32 AM PDT · 17518 days ago · 22 km deep · 45 km away
14. 1.515 km WSW of Burnt Ranch, CaliforniaSat, Oct 14, 11:18 PM PDT · 17518 days ago · 33 km deep · 79 km away
15. 1.923 km SSW of Scotia, CaliforniaSat, Oct 14, 6:59 PM PDT · 17518 days ago · 2 km deep · 22 km away
16. 2.8near the coast of Northern CaliforniaSat, Oct 14, 5:50 PM PDT · 17519 days ago · 22 km deep · 11 km away
17. 1.634 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Oct 14, 1:21 AM PDT · 17519 days ago · 16 km deep · 21 km away
18. 1.6Northern CaliforniaSat, Oct 14, 12:45 AM PDT · 17519 days ago · 32 km deep · 88 km away
19. 1.612 km S of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Oct 13, 7:19 AM PDT · 17520 days ago · 23 km deep · 17 km away
20. 2.06 km WSW of Samoa, CaliforniaThu, Oct 12, 7:43 PM PDT · 17520 days ago · 24 km deep · 49 km away

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc1042939. Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 1:14 PM UTC.