California earthquakes

M1.7 earthquake 18 km W of Ferndale, California

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake struck 18 km W of Ferndale, California on Wed, Oct 21, 1981, 8:51 AM PDT (15:51 UTC), 22 km (14 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M1.8 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.

Open the live map with earthquakes

The earthquake

Magnitude
1.7 (md), micro
Local time
UTC
1981-10-21 15:51:31 UTC
Depth
22.3 km (13.8 mi), shallow
Epicenter
40.547° N, 124.473° 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 2.2 km horizontally, 0.5 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty
±0.15
Depth from
From location
Station coverage gap
299°, poorly surrounded by stations
Stations used
6

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 145 in the 60 days after this one and 54 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 1.562 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16407 days ago · 5 km deep · 46 km away
  2. 1.640 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16406 days ago · 25 km deep · 31 km away
  3. 1.837 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16406 days ago · 24 km deep · 28 km away
  4. 2.936 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16405 days ago · 12 km deep · 29 km away
  5. 2.015 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16405 days ago · 23 km deep · 17 km away
  6. 2.416 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16405 days ago · 23 km deep · 16 km away
  7. 2.966 km W of Indianola, California · 16405 days ago · 5 km deep · 52 km away
  8. 2.256 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16404 days ago · 23 km deep · 40 km away
  9. 2.619 km WSW of Scotia, California · 16404 days ago · 26 km deep · 22 km away
  10. 3.136 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16404 days ago · 28 km deep · 25 km away
  11. 1.730 km W of Trinidad, California · 16403 days ago · 3 km deep · 60 km away
  12. 3.837 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16403 days ago · 28 km deep · 26 km away
  13. 2.936 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16403 days ago · 27 km deep · 26 km away
  14. 1.837 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16403 days ago · 28 km deep · 25 km away
  15. 2.419 km W of Big Lagoon, California · 16402 days ago · 27 km deep · 69 km away
  16. 1.632 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16402 days ago · 39 km deep · 23 km away
  17. 2.532 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16402 days ago · 26 km deep · 17 km away
  18. 1.64 km WSW of Redcrest, California · 16402 days ago · 35 km deep · 44 km away
  19. 2.01 km NE of Bayview, California · 16402 days ago · 11 km deep · 37 km away
  20. 2.136 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16401 days ago · 33 km deep · 25 km away
  21. 1.945 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16401 days ago · 20 km deep · 31 km away
  22. 2.834 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16400 days ago · 35 km deep · 24 km away
  23. 1.739 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16400 days ago · 23 km deep · 27 km away
  24. 1.617 km WNW of Indianola, California · 16400 days ago · 25 km deep · 22 km away
  25. 1.643 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16400 days ago · 18 km deep · 31 km away
  26. 2.415 km W of Samoa, California · 16399 days ago · 23 km deep · 30 km away
  27. 2.911 km W of Ferndale, California · 16399 days ago · 22 km deep · 7 km away
  28. 2.635 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16399 days ago · 25 km deep · 24 km away
  29. 3.236 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16399 days ago · 28 km deep · 25 km away
  30. 1.638 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16399 days ago · 25 km deep · 27 km away
  31. 1.659 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16399 days ago · 6 km deep · 44 km away
  32. 2.059 km W of Ferndale, California · 16399 days ago · 10 km deep · 42 km away
  33. 2.63 km SE of Fortuna, California · 16398 days ago · 20 km deep · 30 km away
  34. 1.738 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16398 days ago · 22 km deep · 28 km away
  35. 2.647 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16398 days ago · 21 km deep · 33 km away
  36. 1.517 km W of Ferndale, California · 16398 days ago · 22 km deep · 2 km away
  37. 3.038 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16398 days ago · 29 km deep · 27 km away
  38. 1.810 km NW of Willow Creek, California · 16397 days ago · 24 km deep · 83 km away
  39. 3.036 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16397 days ago · 28 km deep · 25 km away
  40. 1.718 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16397 days ago · 22 km deep · 7 km away
  41. 1.826 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16397 days ago · 18 km deep · 16 km away
  42. 2.616 km ESE of Pine Hills, California · 16397 days ago · 24 km deep · 45 km away
  43. 3.294 km W of Ferndale, California · 16396 days ago · 18 km deep · 78 km away
  44. 1.836 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16396 days ago · 25 km deep · 19 km away
  45. 1.711 km E of Pine Hills, California · 16396 days ago · 25 km deep · 43 km away
  46. 2.311 km W of Indianola, California · 16396 days ago · 26 km deep · 17 km away
  47. 1.79 km WSW of Rio Dell, California · 16396 days ago · 23 km deep · 24 km away
  48. 2.641 km SW of Ferndale, CA · 16396 days ago · 26 km deep · 28 km away
  49. 1.835 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16395 days ago · 36 km deep · 24 km away
  50. 3.257 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16395 days ago · 20 km deep · 40 km away
  51. 2.137 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16394 days ago · 26 km deep · 26 km away
  52. 1.628 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16393 days ago · 20 km deep · 18 km away
  53. 2.138 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16393 days ago · 27 km deep · 26 km away
  54. 2.038 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16393 days ago · 29 km deep · 27 km away
  55. 1.536 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16393 days ago · 21 km deep · 27 km away
  56. 1.836 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16392 days ago · 27 km deep · 25 km away
  57. 3.422 km WNW of Trinidad, California · 16392 days ago · 25 km deep · 62 km away
  58. 2.137 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16391 days ago · 22 km deep · 27 km away
  59. 2.623 km WSW of Trinidad, California · 16391 days ago · 13 km deep · 52 km away
  60. 1.55 km E of Willow Creek, California · 16391 days ago · 20 km deep · 87 km away

The first 60 of 145.

Before

  1. 1.850 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16407 days ago · 30 km deep · 33 km away
  2. 3.0101 km W of Ferndale, California · 16407 days ago · 8 km deep · 84 km away
  3. 2.134 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16407 days ago · 25 km deep · 26 km away
  4. 1.539 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16407 days ago · 25 km deep · 31 km away
  5. 2.6110 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16408 days ago · 4 km deep · 92 km away
  6. 3.09 km N of Hyampom, California · 16409 days ago · 17 km deep · 88 km away
  7. 1.638 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16409 days ago · 31 km deep · 21 km away
  8. 1.822 km WSW of Weott, California · 16409 days ago · 4 km deep · 44 km away
  9. 1.96 km SE of Ferndale, California · 16409 days ago · 11 km deep · 23 km away
  10. 2.036 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16410 days ago · 21 km deep · 27 km away
  11. 1.641 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16410 days ago · 20 km deep · 29 km away
  12. 1.518 km SW of Scotia, California · 16410 days ago · 22 km deep · 28 km away
  13. 1.814 km WNW of Samoa, California · 16410 days ago · 25 km deep · 36 km away
  14. 1.628 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16411 days ago · 25 km deep · 16 km away
  15. 2.550 km WNW of Ferndale, California · 16411 days ago · 3 km deep · 36 km away
  16. 1.643 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16411 days ago · 32 km deep · 29 km away
  17. 1.615 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16411 days ago · 24 km deep · 6 km away
  18. 2.3108 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16411 days ago · 4 km deep · 90 km away
  19. 3.593 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16411 days ago · 5 km deep · 75 km away
  20. 1.633 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16411 days ago · 23 km deep · 19 km away

Earthquakes todayCalifornia earthquakesLive radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc1068810. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 12:17 PM UTC.