M1.6 earthquake 2 km WNW of Rackerby, California
A magnitude 1.6 earthquake struck 2 km WNW of Rackerby, California on Sun, Jul 1, 1979, 3:20 PM PDT (22:20 UTC), 3 km (2 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M2.5 8 km SW of Whitehawk, California. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 1.6 (Md, duration), micro
- Magnitude from
- Northern California Seismic System
- Local time
- UTC
- 1979-07-01 22:20:12 UTC
- Depth
- 3.5 km (2.1 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 39.451° N, 121.373° W
- Region
- California
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 10.4 km horizontally, 18.5 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.01
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 303°, poorly surrounded by stations
- Stations used
- 7
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 2.412 km ENE of Princeton, California · 17261 days ago · -1 km deep · 43 km away
- 2.32 km SSE of Soda Springs, California · 17259 days ago · 2 km deep · 88 km away
- 1.88 km NW of Truckee, California · 17243 days ago · 21 km deep · 96 km away
- 2.37 km NNE of Greenhorn, California · 17243 days ago · 13 km deep · 81 km away
- 2.58 km SW of Whitehawk, California · 17232 days ago · 13 km deep · 68 km away
- 1.79 km NW of Truckee, California · 17220 days ago · 14 km deep · 97 km away
- 1.5Northern California · 17216 days ago · 7 km deep · 85 km away
- 2.218 km SSW of Kingvale, California · 17209 days ago · 9 km deep · 83 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayCalifornia earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc1046390. Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 7:02 PM UTC.