California earthquakes

M2.3 earthquake 40 km SW of Ferndale, California

A magnitude 2.3 earthquake struck 40 km SW of Ferndale, California on Tue, Sep 22, 1981, 2:31 AM PDT (09:31 UTC), 28 km (17 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M3.0 41 km SW of Ferndale, California. This one was a foreshock.

Ferndale 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
2.3 (md), micro
Local time
UTC
1981-09-22 09:31:47 UTC
Depth
28.1 km (17.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter
40.332° N, 124.618° 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 0.8 km horizontally, 1.1 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty
±0.17
Depth from
From location
Station coverage gap
279°, poorly surrounded by stations
Stations used
16

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 187 in the 60 days after this one and 12 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 1.941 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16434 days ago · 30 km deep · 3 km away
  2. 3.041 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16432 days ago · 20 km deep · 3 km away
  3. 3.243 km WNW of Shelter Cove, California · 16432 days ago · 0 km deep · 20 km away
  4. 2.118 km WSW of Scotia, California · 16432 days ago · 30 km deep · 28 km away
  5. 2.034 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16432 days ago · 30 km deep · 10 km away
  6. 1.630 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16432 days ago · 32 km deep · 17 km away
  7. 2.337 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16431 days ago · 26 km deep · 5 km away
  8. 1.632 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16431 days ago · 34 km deep · 10 km away
  9. 2.936 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16431 days ago · 23 km deep · 9 km away
  10. 1.540 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16431 days ago · 24 km deep · 5 km away
  11. 2.137 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16430 days ago · 28 km deep · 4 km away
  12. 1.530 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16430 days ago · 29 km deep · 19 km away
  13. 2.511 km SE of Blue Lake, California · 16429 days ago · 25 km deep · 80 km away
  14. 2.511 km SSE of Blue Lake, California · 16429 days ago · 26 km deep · 79 km away
  15. 1.838 km W of Ferndale, California · 16428 days ago · 20 km deep · 32 km away
  16. 2.239 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16427 days ago · 29 km deep · 1 km away
  17. 2.6off the coast of Northern California · 16427 days ago · 4 km deep · 82 km away
  18. 2.037 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16426 days ago · 32 km deep · 4 km away
  19. 2.138 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16426 days ago · 27 km deep · 5 km away
  20. 1.83 km S of Humboldt Hill, California · 16426 days ago · 17 km deep · 54 km away
  21. 2.356 km W of Indianola, California · 16425 days ago · 24 km deep · 54 km away
  22. 2.52 km NE of Redway, California · 16425 days ago · 19 km deep · 73 km away
  23. 2.822 km WSW of Weott, California · 16425 days ago · 7 km deep · 41 km away
  24. 2.034 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16425 days ago · 27 km deep · 7 km away
  25. 2.14 km SW of Big Lagoon, California · 16424 days ago · 13 km deep · 96 km away
  26. 1.65 km S of Ferndale, California · 16424 days ago · 26 km deep · 38 km away
  27. 1.925 km SSW of Ferndale, CA · 16424 days ago · 15 km deep · 22 km away
  28. 2.475 km W of Indianola, California · 16424 days ago · 7 km deep · 66 km away
  29. 1.540 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16424 days ago · 30 km deep · 2 km away
  30. 1.534 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16424 days ago · 34 km deep · 10 km away
  31. 2.714 km WSW of Scotia, California · 16423 days ago · 28 km deep · 32 km away
  32. 1.636 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16423 days ago · 34 km deep · 9 km away
  33. 3.337 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16423 days ago · 25 km deep · 8 km away
  34. 1.837 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16423 days ago · 23 km deep · 9 km away
  35. 1.738 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16423 days ago · 23 km deep · 8 km away
  36. 3.1128 km W of Ferndale, California · 16423 days ago · 5 km deep · 100 km away
  37. 2.376 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16423 days ago · 4 km deep · 46 km away
  38. 2.112 km WSW of Weott, California · 16423 days ago · 4 km deep · 49 km away
  39. 3.310 km SW of Mad River, California · 16423 days ago · 22 km deep · 88 km away
  40. 2.565 km W of Indianola, California · 16422 days ago · 5 km deep · 59 km away
  41. 3.210 km SSW of Mad River, California · 16422 days ago · 21 km deep · 89 km away
  42. 2.410 km SSW of Mad River, California · 16422 days ago · 20 km deep · 89 km away
  43. 1.634 km SW of Scotia, California · 16422 days ago · 18 km deep · 20 km away
  44. 1.643 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16422 days ago · 21 km deep · 3 km away
  45. 1.79 km S of Ferndale, California · 16422 days ago · 22 km deep · 36 km away
  46. 2.07 km W of Rio Dell, California · 16421 days ago · 21 km deep · 40 km away
  47. 2.541 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16421 days ago · 25 km deep · 1 km away
  48. 2.282 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16421 days ago · 5 km deep · 51 km away
  49. 1.835 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16420 days ago · 28 km deep · 8 km away
  50. 1.94 km N of Redway, California · 16420 days ago · 20 km deep · 71 km away
  51. 3.037 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16419 days ago · 27 km deep · 5 km away
  52. 2.170 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16419 days ago · 5 km deep · 38 km away
  53. 1.733 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16419 days ago · 35 km deep · 10 km away
  54. 1.736 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16418 days ago · 26 km deep · 8 km away
  55. 1.779 km W of Ferndale, California · 16418 days ago · 5 km deep · 52 km away
  56. 1.535 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16417 days ago · 23 km deep · 13 km away
  57. 1.738 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16417 days ago · 37 km deep · 2 km away
  58. 2.517 km WSW of Scotia, California · 16416 days ago · 28 km deep · 29 km away
  59. 1.618 km WSW of Scotia, California · 16416 days ago · 28 km deep · 29 km away
  60. 2.243 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16416 days ago · 17 km deep · 3 km away

The first 60 of 187.

Before

  1. 3.336 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16437 days ago · 27 km deep · 6 km away
  2. 2.641 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16437 days ago · 26 km deep · 1 km away
  3. 3.435 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16437 days ago · 12 km deep · 13 km away
  4. 1.50 km E of Ferndale, California · 16438 days ago · 5 km deep · 41 km away
  5. 2.028 km SW of Scotia, California · 16439 days ago · 8 km deep · 27 km away
  6. 2.045 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16439 days ago · 24 km deep · 7 km away
  7. 2.333 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16439 days ago · 28 km deep · 7 km away
  8. 1.726 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16439 days ago · 25 km deep · 16 km away
  9. 1.749 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16439 days ago · 5 km deep · 11 km away
  10. 2.117 km WNW of Indianola, California · 16440 days ago · 24 km deep · 50 km away
  11. 3.337 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16440 days ago · 28 km deep · 5 km away
  12. 1.73 km SE of Scotia, California · 16440 days ago · 26 km deep · 49 km away

Earthquakes todayCalifornia earthquakesLive radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc1067836. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 8:47 PM UTC.