California earthquakes

M4.2 earthquake 26 km NNW of Benton, California

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 26 km NNW of Benton, California on Tue, Apr 28, 1981, 3:54 PM PDT (22:54 UTC), 6 km (4 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M4.5 12 km NNW of Benton, California. This one was a foreshock.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 4.2 (mb), light
Local time: Tue, Apr 28, 1981, 3:54 PM PDT
UTC: 1981-04-28 22:54:50 UTC
Depth: 6.0 km (3.7 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 38.047° N, 118.575° 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.

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 174 in the 60 days after this one and 25 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of 174.

Before

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001dem (also filed as ushis3715, ci515118). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 10:28 PM UTC.