California earthquakes

M2.9 earthquake 36 km SW of Ferndale, California

A magnitude 2.9 earthquake struck 36 km SW of Ferndale, California on Sun, Sep 27, 1981, 1:27 PM PDT (20:27 UTC), 23 km (14 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M3.3 37 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.

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The earthquake

Magnitude
2.9 (md), micro
Local time
UTC
1981-09-27 20:27:12 UTC
Depth
22.8 km (14.2 mi), shallow
Epicenter
40.308° N, 124.521° 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 1.0 km horizontally, 0.7 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty
±0.10
Depth from
From location
Station coverage gap
244°, poorly surrounded by stations
Stations used
30

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 186 in the 60 days after this one and 13 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 1.540 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16431 days ago · 24 km deep · 5 km away
  2. 2.137 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16430 days ago · 28 km deep · 5 km away
  3. 1.530 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16430 days ago · 29 km deep · 11 km away
  4. 2.511 km SE of Blue Lake, California · 16429 days ago · 25 km deep · 76 km away
  5. 2.511 km SSE of Blue Lake, California · 16429 days ago · 26 km deep · 75 km away
  6. 1.838 km W of Ferndale, California · 16429 days ago · 20 km deep · 37 km away
  7. 2.239 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16427 days ago · 29 km deep · 8 km away
  8. 2.6off the coast of Northern California · 16427 days ago · 4 km deep · 91 km away
  9. 2.037 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16426 days ago · 32 km deep · 5 km away
  10. 2.138 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16426 days ago · 27 km deep · 4 km away
  11. 1.83 km S of Humboldt Hill, California · 16426 days ago · 17 km deep · 51 km away
  12. 2.356 km W of Indianola, California · 16426 days ago · 24 km deep · 61 km away
  13. 2.52 km NE of Redway, California · 16425 days ago · 19 km deep · 64 km away
  14. 2.822 km WSW of Weott, California · 16425 days ago · 7 km deep · 32 km away
  15. 2.034 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16425 days ago · 27 km deep · 11 km away
  16. 2.14 km SW of Big Lagoon, California · 16425 days ago · 13 km deep · 96 km away
  17. 1.65 km S of Ferndale, California · 16424 days ago · 26 km deep · 33 km away
  18. 1.925 km SSW of Ferndale, CA · 16424 days ago · 15 km deep · 15 km away
  19. 2.475 km W of Indianola, California · 16424 days ago · 7 km deep · 73 km away
  20. 1.540 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16424 days ago · 30 km deep · 11 km away
  21. 1.534 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16424 days ago · 34 km deep · 3 km away
  22. 2.714 km WSW of Scotia, California · 16423 days ago · 28 km deep · 26 km away
  23. 1.636 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16423 days ago · 34 km deep · 1 km away
  24. 3.337 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16423 days ago · 25 km deep · 1 km away
  25. 1.837 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16423 days ago · 23 km deep · 1 km away
  26. 1.738 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16423 days ago · 23 km deep · 1 km away
  27. 2.376 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16423 days ago · 4 km deep · 54 km away
  28. 2.112 km WSW of Weott, California · 16423 days ago · 4 km deep · 40 km away
  29. 3.310 km SW of Mad River, California · 16423 days ago · 22 km deep · 80 km away
  30. 2.565 km W of Indianola, California · 16423 days ago · 5 km deep · 66 km away
  31. 3.210 km SSW of Mad River, California · 16422 days ago · 21 km deep · 81 km away
  32. 2.410 km SSW of Mad River, California · 16422 days ago · 20 km deep · 81 km away
  33. 1.634 km SW of Scotia, California · 16422 days ago · 18 km deep · 11 km away
  34. 1.643 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16422 days ago · 21 km deep · 9 km away
  35. 1.79 km S of Ferndale, California · 16422 days ago · 22 km deep · 31 km away
  36. 2.07 km W of Rio Dell, California · 16421 days ago · 21 km deep · 34 km away
  37. 2.541 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16421 days ago · 25 km deep · 8 km away
  38. 2.282 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16421 days ago · 5 km deep · 60 km away
  39. 1.835 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16421 days ago · 28 km deep · 2 km away
  40. 1.94 km N of Redway, California · 16420 days ago · 20 km deep · 62 km away
  41. 3.037 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16419 days ago · 27 km deep · 4 km away
  42. 2.170 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16419 days ago · 5 km deep · 47 km away
  43. 1.733 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16419 days ago · 35 km deep · 3 km away
  44. 1.736 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16418 days ago · 26 km deep · 1 km away
  45. 1.779 km W of Ferndale, California · 16418 days ago · 5 km deep · 61 km away
  46. 1.810 km SW of Trinity Village, California · 16418 days ago · 22 km deep · 95 km away
  47. 1.535 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16417 days ago · 23 km deep · 4 km away
  48. 1.738 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16417 days ago · 37 km deep · 8 km away
  49. 2.517 km WSW of Scotia, California · 16416 days ago · 28 km deep · 23 km away
  50. 1.618 km WSW of Scotia, California · 16416 days ago · 28 km deep · 22 km away
  51. 2.243 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16416 days ago · 17 km deep · 10 km away
  52. 1.59 km W of Ferndale, California · 16416 days ago · 22 km deep · 34 km away
  53. 3.336 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16415 days ago · 28 km deep · 3 km away
  54. 1.58 km SW of Scotia, California · 16415 days ago · 31 km deep · 33 km away
  55. 1.620 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16415 days ago · 4 km deep · 18 km away
  56. 1.737 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16415 days ago · 19 km deep · 7 km away
  57. 2.461 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16414 days ago · 5 km deep · 38 km away
  58. 1.754 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16414 days ago · 30 km deep · 24 km away
  59. 2.13 km NE of Redway, California · 16414 days ago · 20 km deep · 64 km away
  60. 2.436 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16412 days ago · 27 km deep · 3 km away

The first 60 of 186.

Before

  1. 1.632 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16431 days ago · 34 km deep · 5 km away
  2. 2.337 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16431 days ago · 26 km deep · 4 km away
  3. 1.630 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16432 days ago · 32 km deep · 9 km away
  4. 2.034 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16432 days ago · 30 km deep · 2 km away
  5. 2.118 km WSW of Scotia, California · 16432 days ago · 30 km deep · 22 km away
  6. 3.243 km WNW of Shelter Cove, California · 16432 days ago · 0 km deep · 17 km away
  7. 3.041 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16432 days ago · 20 km deep · 12 km away
  8. 1.941 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16434 days ago · 30 km deep · 8 km away
  9. 2.340 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16437 days ago · 28 km deep · 9 km away
  10. 3.336 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16437 days ago · 27 km deep · 3 km away
  11. 2.641 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16437 days ago · 26 km deep · 9 km away
  12. 3.435 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16437 days ago · 12 km deep · 5 km away
  13. 1.50 km E of Ferndale, California · 16438 days ago · 5 km deep · 37 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc1067989. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 10:23 PM UTC.