M3.3 earthquake 39 km SW of Ferndale, California

Magnitude

3.3 (md), minor

Local time

Sun, May 17, 1981, 10:21 PM PDT

UTC

1981-05-18 05:21:46 UTC

Depth

23.6 km (14.7 mi), shallow

Epicenter

40.330° N, 124.601° W

Region

California

Tsunami flag

No

Status

Reviewed by a seismologist

Location uncertainty

About 1.3 km horizontally, 1.0 km in depth

Magnitude uncertainty

±0.07

Depth from

From location

Station coverage gap

242°, poorly surrounded by stations

Stations used

30

• Ferndale, CaliforniaPopulation 1,369. Forecast40 kmSW
• Fortuna, CaliforniaPopulation 12,000. Forecast48 kmSW
• Chico, CaliforniaPopulation 121,345. Forecast245 kmWNW
• Los Angeles, CaliforniaPopulation 3,820,914. Forecast896 kmNW

After

1. 2.47 km NNW of Manila, CaliforniaMon, May 18, 11:27 AM PDT · 16563 days ago · 6 km deep · 74 km away
2. 2.23 km NNW of Redway, CaliforniaMon, May 18, 2:35 PM PDT · 16563 days ago · 17 km deep · 68 km away
3. 2.916 km SW of Mad River, CaliforniaThu, May 21, 5:08 AM PDT · 16560 days ago · 21 km deep · 80 km away
4. 2.917 km SW of Mad River, CaliforniaThu, May 21, 5:45 AM PDT · 16560 days ago · 22 km deep · 79 km away
5. 1.816 km NE of Miranda, CaliforniaThu, May 21, 6:34 AM PDT · 16560 days ago · 20 km deep · 77 km away
6. 4.227 km W of Trinidad, CaliforniaThu, May 21, 6:19 PM PDT · 16559 days ago · 23 km deep · 86 km away
7. 2.216 km SW of Mad River, CaliforniaFri, May 22, 2:14 AM PDT · 16559 days ago · 22 km deep · 79 km away
8. 1.57 km SSW of Mad River, CaliforniaFri, May 22, 2:15 AM PDT · 16559 days ago · 27 km deep · 90 km away
9. 2.117 km SW of Mad River, CaliforniaFri, May 22, 3:36 AM PDT · 16559 days ago · 21 km deep · 79 km away
10. 1.617 km ENE of Hydesville, CaliforniaFri, May 22, 7:34 AM PDT · 16559 days ago · 21 km deep · 67 km away
11. 2.417 km SW of Mad River, CaliforniaFri, May 22, 5:07 PM PDT · 16558 days ago · 21 km deep · 79 km away
12. 3.338 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, May 23, 11:43 AM PDT · 16558 days ago · 27 km deep · 1 km away
13. 2.83 km SSW of Scotia, CaliforniaSat, May 23, 7:04 PM PDT · 16557 days ago · 9 km deep · 43 km away
14. 2.911 km S of Scotia, CaliforniaSat, May 23, 7:10 PM PDT · 16557 days ago · 12 km deep · 42 km away
15. 3.150 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, May 25, 6:38 AM PDT · 16556 days ago · 34 km deep · 15 km away
16. 1.914 km NE of Hydesville, CaliforniaMon, May 25, 9:54 AM PDT · 16556 days ago · 24 km deep · 63 km away
17. 1.9Northern CaliforniaMon, May 25, 5:41 PM PDT · 16555 days ago · 22 km deep · 66 km away
18. 4.658 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, May 26, 4:41 AM PDT · 16555 days ago · 2 km deep · 26 km away
19. 3.523 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, May 26, 5:12 AM PDT · 16555 days ago · 27 km deep · 18 km away
20. 2.224 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, May 26, 5:20 AM PDT · 16555 days ago · 27 km deep · 16 km away
21. 2.1near the coast of Northern CaliforniaTue, May 26, 7:52 PM PDT · 16554 days ago · 31 km deep · 17 km away
22. 2.873 km WNW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, May 27, 2:49 AM PDT · 16554 days ago · 14 km deep · 63 km away
23. 2.341 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, May 27, 3:33 AM PDT · 16554 days ago · 21 km deep · 2 km away
24. 2.015 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, May 27, 9:26 AM PDT · 16554 days ago · 28 km deep · 28 km away
25. 2.633 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, May 27, 12:12 PM PDT · 16554 days ago · 27 km deep · 8 km away
26. 3.013 km W of Ruth, CaliforniaThu, May 28, 7:55 AM PDT · 16553 days ago · 22 km deep · 95 km away
27. 2.239 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, May 29, 2:01 AM PDT · 16552 days ago · 24 km deep · 1 km away
28. 2.843 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, May 29, 8:47 AM PDT · 16552 days ago · 21 km deep · 7 km away
29. 2.936 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, May 29, 1:58 PM PDT · 16552 days ago · 29 km deep · 5 km away
30. 1.645 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, May 29, 11:53 PM PDT · 16551 days ago · 18 km deep · 7 km away
31. 3.711 km SW of Willow Creek, CaliforniaSat, May 30, 8:36 PM PDT · 16550 days ago · 28 km deep · 94 km away
32. 2.322 km WSW of Weott, CaliforniaSun, May 31, 1:16 PM PDT · 16550 days ago · 1 km deep · 40 km away
33. 1.616 km WNW of Samoa, CaliforniaMon, Jun 1, 12:35 PM PDT · 16549 days ago · 22 km deep · 67 km away
34. 2.464 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Jun 1, 5:52 PM PDT · 16548 days ago · 4 km deep · 26 km away
35. 1.631 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Jun 1, 6:14 PM PDT · 16548 days ago · 34 km deep · 11 km away
36. 2.225 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Jun 2, 7:48 AM PDT · 16548 days ago · 19 km deep · 14 km away
37. 1.737 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Jun 2, 2:15 PM PDT · 16548 days ago · 35 km deep · 6 km away
38. 2.225 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Jun 2, 9:16 PM PDT · 16547 days ago · 27 km deep · 16 km away
39. 2.342 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Jun 3, 2:45 AM PDT · 16547 days ago · 23 km deep · 3 km away
40. 2.610 km WNW of Fields Landing, CaliforniaWed, Jun 3, 12:25 PM PDT · 16547 days ago · 25 km deep · 54 km away
41. 2.137 km WNW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Jun 3, 4:37 PM PDT · 16546 days ago · 20 km deep · 39 km away
42. 2.240 km WNW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Jun 3, 4:47 PM PDT · 16546 days ago · 19 km deep · 39 km away
43. 2.338 km WNW of Indianola, CaliforniaThu, Jun 4, 3:48 AM PDT · 16546 days ago · 9 km deep · 51 km away
44. 2.236 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Jun 4, 12:33 PM PDT · 16546 days ago · 28 km deep · 6 km away
45. 1.57 km WNW of McKinleyville, CaliforniaThu, Jun 4, 2:01 PM PDT · 16546 days ago · 20 km deep · 80 km away
46. 2.637 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Jun 5, 2:20 PM PDT · 16545 days ago · 28 km deep · 2 km away
47. 2.421 km WNW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Jun 6, 12:25 AM PDT · 16544 days ago · 24 km deep · 38 km away
48. 2.384 km WNW of Samoa, CaliforniaSat, Jun 6, 2:46 PM PDT · 16544 days ago · 4 km deep · 90 km away
49. 2.96 km NE of Miranda, CaliforniaSat, Jun 6, 8:17 PM PDT · 16543 days ago · 28 km deep · 71 km away
50. 1.718 km WSW of Scotia, CaliforniaMon, Jun 8, 1:04 AM PDT · 16542 days ago · 28 km deep · 28 km away
51. 2.414 km WNW of Fields Landing, CaliforniaMon, Jun 8, 3:06 AM PDT · 16542 days ago · 24 km deep · 50 km away
52. 2.314 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Jun 8, 2:06 PM PDT · 16542 days ago · 23 km deep · 27 km away
53. 1.633 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Jun 8, 4:44 PM PDT · 16541 days ago · 24 km deep · 11 km away
54. 1.513 km NE of Fieldbrook, CaliforniaMon, Jun 8, 10:07 PM PDT · 16541 days ago · 5 km deep · 98 km away
55. 2.554 km WNW of Samoa, CaliforniaTue, Jun 9, 1:50 PM PDT · 16541 days ago · 14 km deep · 73 km away
56. 3.398 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Jun 9, 2:34 PM PDT · 16541 days ago · 65 km deep · 65 km away
57. 2.197 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Jun 10, 1:57 AM PDT · 16540 days ago · 7 km deep · 67 km away
58. 1.812 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Jun 10, 6:27 AM PDT · 16540 days ago · 16 km deep · 28 km away
59. 2.3111 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Jun 11, 12:54 AM PDT · 16539 days ago · 4 km deep · 82 km away
60. 2.22 km SSE of Benbow, CaliforniaThu, Jun 11, 4:41 AM PDT · 16539 days ago · 17 km deep · 77 km away

The first 60 of 175.

Before

1. 1.88 km WNW of Indianola, CaliforniaSun, May 17, 11:08 AM PDT · 16564 days ago · 4 km deep · 47 km away
2. 2.911 km W of Indianola, CaliforniaFri, May 15, 8:58 PM PDT · 16565 days ago · 11 km deep · 45 km away
3. 1.811 km W of Indianola, CaliforniaFri, May 15, 7:17 PM PDT · 16565 days ago · 12 km deep · 45 km away
4. 2.214 km WSW of Trinidad, CaliforniaFri, May 15, 4:46 PM PDT · 16565 days ago · 5 km deep · 80 km away
5. 1.634 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, May 15, 4:25 PM PDT · 16566 days ago · 23 km deep · 9 km away
6. 1.73 km W of Scotia, CaliforniaFri, May 15, 1:17 PM PDT · 16566 days ago · 20 km deep · 42 km away
7. 1.71 km NE of Humboldt Hill, CaliforniaFri, May 15, 7:11 AM PDT · 16566 days ago · 1 km deep · 57 km away
8. 2.825 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, May 14, 7:21 PM PDT · 16566 days ago · 27 km deep · 14 km away
9. 1.625 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaThu, May 14, 4:11 PM PDT · 16567 days ago · 29 km deep · 22 km away
10. 2.378 km WNW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, May 14, 3:48 PM PDT · 16567 days ago · 8 km deep · 65 km away
11. 2.425 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, May 14, 3:36 PM PDT · 16567 days ago · 32 km deep · 19 km away
12. 1.729 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, May 14, 10:50 AM PDT · 16567 days ago · 35 km deep · 14 km away
13. 2.23 km W of Blue Lake, CaliforniaThu, May 14, 12:21 AM PDT · 16567 days ago · 0 km deep · 78 km away
14. 1.736 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, May 13, 9:53 PM PDT · 16567 days ago · 35 km deep · 6 km away
15. 2.35 km SW of Phillipsville, CaliforniaWed, May 13, 5:25 PM PDT · 16567 days ago · 19 km deep · 69 km away
16. 2.122 km W of Indianola, CaliforniaWed, May 13, 3:15 AM PDT · 16568 days ago · 20 km deep · 43 km away
17. 2.773 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, May 13, 2:35 AM PDT · 16568 days ago · 64 km deep · 43 km away
18. 1.629 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaWed, May 13, 2:16 AM PDT · 16568 days ago · 27 km deep · 22 km away
19. 1.816 km ENE of Redcrest, CaliforniaTue, May 12, 1:51 AM PDT · 16569 days ago · 0 km deep · 72 km away
20. 2.236 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, May 11, 5:14 PM PDT · 16569 days ago · 27 km deep · 4 km away

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc1063746. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 10:58 AM UTC.