M3.4 earthquake 129 km W of Ferndale, California

Magnitude

3.4 (ML, local (Richter)), minor

Magnitude from

Northern California Seismic System

Local time

Tue, May 15, 1979, 12:13 AM PDT

UTC

1979-05-15 07:13:37 UTC

Depth

5.0 km (3.1 mi), shallow

Epicenter

40.588° N, 125.796° W

Region

California

Tsunami flag

No

Status

Reviewed by a seismologist

Location uncertainty

About 11.2 km horizontally, 12.0 km in depth

Depth from

From location

Station coverage gap

331°, poorly surrounded by stations

Stations used

13

• Ferndale, CaliforniaPopulation 1,369. Forecast129 kmW
• Fortuna, CaliforniaPopulation 12,000. Forecast138 kmW
• Chico, CaliforniaPopulation 121,345. Forecast350 kmWNW

After

1. 1.786 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, May 15, 1:11 AM PDT · 17307 days ago · 4 km deep · 50 km away
2. 2.0110 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, May 17, 2:39 AM PDT · 17305 days ago · 4 km deep · 33 km away
3. 2.234 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, May 17, 8:05 AM PDT · 17304 days ago · 21 km deep · 96 km away
4. 1.740 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, May 18, 10:25 AM PDT · 17303 days ago · 14 km deep · 95 km away
5. 2.233 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, May 21, 1:42 PM PDT · 17300 days ago · 21 km deep · 97 km away
6. 1.970 km W of Indianola, CaliforniaFri, May 25, 8:42 AM PDT · 17296 days ago · 6 km deep · 66 km away
7. 1.850 km WNW of Samoa, CaliforniaFri, May 25, 12:31 PM PDT · 17296 days ago · 13 km deep · 95 km away
8. 2.865 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, May 27, 11:17 AM PDT · 17294 days ago · 31 km deep · 65 km away
9. 1.973 km WNW of Samoa, CaliforniaSun, May 27, 8:52 PM PDT · 17294 days ago · 5 km deep · 79 km away
10. 3.985 km WNW of Samoa, CaliforniaSun, May 27, 9:12 PM PDT · 17294 days ago · 3 km deep · 71 km away
11. 2.292 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, May 28, 4:52 PM PDT · 17293 days ago · 5 km deep · 44 km away
12. 2.178 km WNW of Samoa, CaliforniaSat, Jun 2, 10:16 PM PDT · 17288 days ago · 3 km deep · 72 km away
13. 2.764 km WNW of Indianola, CaliforniaMon, Jun 4, 8:55 PM PDT · 17286 days ago · 13 km deep · 78 km away
14. 1.647 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Jun 6, 7:04 AM PDT · 17284 days ago · 12 km deep · 96 km away
15. 2.070 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Jun 9, 12:00 AM PDT · 17282 days ago · 5 km deep · 65 km away
16. 1.837 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Jun 9, 6:01 PM PDT · 17281 days ago · 21 km deep · 93 km away
17. 1.836 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Jun 12, 11:14 AM PDT · 17278 days ago · 25 km deep · 98 km away
18. 2.864 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Jun 12, 5:10 PM PDT · 17278 days ago · 21 km deep · 68 km away
19. 2.050 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Jun 14, 11:19 AM PDT · 17276 days ago · 15 km deep · 96 km away
20. 2.689 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Jun 17, 11:43 AM PDT · 17273 days ago · 6 km deep · 50 km away
21. 2.4100 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Jun 17, 1:11 PM PDT · 17273 days ago · 27 km deep · 32 km away
22. 2.436 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Jun 19, 6:15 PM PDT · 17271 days ago · 21 km deep · 94 km away
23. 1.967 km WNW of Indianola, CaliforniaWed, Jun 20, 9:37 PM PDT · 17270 days ago · 2 km deep · 71 km away
24. 2.294 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Jun 21, 6:39 AM PDT · 17269 days ago · 3 km deep · 46 km away
25. 1.657 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Jun 23, 1:29 AM PDT · 17268 days ago · 5 km deep · 79 km away
26. 1.754 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Jun 26, 6:57 PM PDT · 17264 days ago · 0 km deep · 75 km away
27. 2.3141 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Jun 30, 7:02 AM PDT · 17260 days ago · 4 km deep · 16 km away
28. 1.649 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Jul 5, 12:09 PM PDT · 17255 days ago · 15 km deep · 93 km away
29. 1.962 km W of Indianola, CaliforniaFri, Jul 6, 1:08 AM PDT · 17255 days ago · 7 km deep · 72 km away
30. 1.831 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Jul 10, 3:36 AM PDT · 17250 days ago · 21 km deep · 99 km away

Before

1. 2.238 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, May 14, 7:23 AM PDT · 17307 days ago · 20 km deep · 91 km away
2. 1.8102 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, May 13, 4:02 AM PDT · 17308 days ago · 5 km deep · 37 km away
3. 2.3106 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, May 12, 8:42 PM PDT · 17309 days ago · 4 km deep · 34 km away
4. 2.794 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, May 12, 7:21 PM PDT · 17309 days ago · 4 km deep · 36 km away
5. 2.8105 km WNW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, May 9, 5:22 PM PDT · 17312 days ago · 4 km deep · 35 km away
6. 1.670 km WNW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, May 8, 9:05 AM PDT · 17313 days ago · 4 km deep · 65 km away
7. 3.176 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, May 8, 8:50 AM PDT · 17313 days ago · 24 km deep · 61 km away
8. 1.534 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, May 8, 7:42 AM PDT · 17313 days ago · 19 km deep · 96 km away
9. 2.045 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, May 8, 6:29 AM PDT · 17313 days ago · 19 km deep · 86 km away
10. 3.097 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, May 4, 12:40 AM PDT · 17318 days ago · 55 km deep · 38 km away
11. 2.379 km W of Ferndale, CAThu, May 3, 5:17 PM PDT · 17318 days ago · 5 km deep · 51 km away
12. 2.086 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, May 3, 4:42 PM PDT · 17318 days ago · 5 km deep · 45 km away
13. 2.1off the coast of Northern CaliforniaThu, May 3, 4:35 AM PDT · 17318 days ago · 5 km deep · 30 km away
14. 2.2120 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Apr 30, 6:26 AM PDT · 17321 days ago · 5 km deep · 20 km away
15. 1.867 km WNW of Samoa, CaliforniaThu, Apr 26, 8:13 PM PST · 17325 days ago · 5 km deep · 82 km away
16. 1.865 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Apr 25, 3:19 PM PST · 17326 days ago · 9 km deep · 70 km away
17. 3.496 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Apr 24, 8:48 PM PST · 17327 days ago · 5 km deep · 40 km away
18. 1.890 km W of Trinidad, CaliforniaTue, Apr 24, 7:46 AM PST · 17327 days ago · 5 km deep · 71 km away
19. 3.073 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Apr 24, 5:58 AM PST · 17327 days ago · 2 km deep · 59 km away
20. 2.2114 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Apr 23, 12:42 AM PST · 17329 days ago · 4 km deep · 26 km away

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc1045809. Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 9:58 PM UTC.