California earthquakes

M2.5 earthquake 11 km NE of Cromberg, California

A magnitude 2.5 earthquake struck 11 km NE of Cromberg, California on Tue, Sep 15, 1981, 12:50 AM PDT (07:50 UTC), 5 km (3 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M3.3 13 km SSE of Sparks, Nevada. This one was a foreshock.

Delleker forecastMore in California

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

Open the live map with earthquakes

The earthquake

Magnitude
2.5 (md), micro
Local time
UTC
1981-09-15 07:50:30 UTC
Depth
4.7 km (2.9 mi), shallow
Epicenter
39.930° N, 120.599° W
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 1.9 km horizontally, 8.6 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty
±0.13
Depth from
From location
Station coverage gap
284°, poorly surrounded by stations
Stations used
10

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 12 in the 60 days after this one and 13 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 1.77 km SE of Mineral, California · 16429 days ago · -1 km deep · 90 km away
  2. 1.53 km E of Palermo, California · 16420 days ago · 5 km deep · 95 km away
  3. 2.26 km WSW of Paradise, California · 16416 days ago · 16 km deep · 95 km away
  4. 1.510 km NE of Mineral, California · 16415 days ago · -2 km deep · 94 km away
  5. 1.916 km ESE of Alta, California · 16408 days ago · 24 km deep · 85 km away
  6. 1.913 km N of Chester, California · 16395 days ago · 2 km deep · 77 km away
  7. 3.313 km SSE of Sparks, Nevada · 16393 days ago · 2 km deep · 94 km away
  8. 1.55 km NW of Chester, California · 16392 days ago · 2 km deep · 73 km away
  9. 1.87 km SSW of Kingvale, California · 16392 days ago · 14 km deep · 76 km away
  10. 1.73 km NW of Chester, California · 16392 days ago · 2 km deep · 72 km away
  11. 1.95 km SSE of Sierraville, California · 16390 days ago · 4 km deep · 48 km away
  12. 2.17 km N of Truckee, California · 16387 days ago · 22 km deep · 69 km away

Before

  1. 2.64 km SSE of Floriston, California · 16446 days ago · 14 km deep · 82 km away
  2. 2.81 km ENE of Lake Almanor West, California · 16449 days ago · 2 km deep · 61 km away
  3. 3.02 km ENE of Prattville, California · 16449 days ago · 12 km deep · 55 km away
  4. 2.52 km ESE of Prattville, California · 16449 days ago · 2 km deep · 54 km away
  5. 2.14 km SE of Palermo, California · 16451 days ago · 6 km deep · 97 km away
  6. 2.66 km S of Kingvale, California · 16458 days ago · 11 km deep · 76 km away
  7. 3.13 km WSW of Spring Garden, California · 16460 days ago · 0 km deep · 20 km away
  8. 2.011 km NE of Soda Springs, California · 16467 days ago · 12 km deep · 64 km away
  9. 1.9Northern California · 16467 days ago · 3 km deep · 81 km away
  10. 1.51 km E of Oroville, California · 16470 days ago · 10 km deep · 93 km away
  11. 1.76 km SSE of Palermo, California · 16472 days ago · 1 km deep · 98 km away
  12. 1.619 km N of Chester, California · 16473 days ago · 0 km deep · 80 km away
  13. 1.710 km SE of Mineral, California · 16473 days ago · 2 km deep · 86 km away

Earthquakes todayCalifornia earthquakesLive radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc1067642. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 10:23 PM UTC.