California earthquakes

M1.5 earthquake 62 km SW of Ferndale, California

A magnitude 1.5 earthquake struck 62 km SW of Ferndale, California on Wed, Oct 21, 1981, 11:45 AM PDT (18:45 UTC), 5 km (3 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M1.6 40 km SSW 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
1.5 (md), micro
Local time
UTC
1981-10-21 18:45:36 UTC
Depth
5.3 km (3.3 mi), shallow
Epicenter
40.260° N, 124.870° 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 14.0 km horizontally, 15.1 km in depth
Depth from
From location
Station coverage gap
291°, poorly surrounded by stations
Stations used
4

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 137 in the 60 days after this one and 62 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 1.640 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16406 days ago · 25 km deep · 30 km away
  2. 1.837 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16406 days ago · 24 km deep · 31 km away
  3. 2.936 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16406 days ago · 12 km deep · 33 km away
  4. 2.015 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16405 days ago · 23 km deep · 50 km away
  5. 2.416 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16405 days ago · 23 km deep · 49 km away
  6. 2.966 km W of Indianola, California · 16405 days ago · 5 km deep · 59 km away
  7. 2.256 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16405 days ago · 23 km deep · 10 km away
  8. 2.619 km WSW of Scotia, California · 16404 days ago · 26 km deep · 50 km away
  9. 3.136 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16404 days ago · 28 km deep · 28 km away
  10. 1.730 km W of Trinidad, California · 16403 days ago · 3 km deep · 97 km away
  11. 3.837 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16403 days ago · 28 km deep · 27 km away
  12. 2.936 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16403 days ago · 27 km deep · 28 km away
  13. 1.837 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16403 days ago · 28 km deep · 27 km away
  14. 1.632 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16402 days ago · 39 km deep · 33 km away
  15. 2.532 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16402 days ago · 26 km deep · 30 km away
  16. 1.64 km WSW of Redcrest, California · 16402 days ago · 35 km deep · 76 km away
  17. 2.01 km NE of Bayview, California · 16402 days ago · 11 km deep · 83 km away
  18. 2.136 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16402 days ago · 33 km deep · 28 km away
  19. 1.945 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16401 days ago · 20 km deep · 19 km away
  20. 2.834 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16401 days ago · 35 km deep · 31 km away
  21. 1.739 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16400 days ago · 23 km deep · 25 km away
  22. 1.617 km WNW of Indianola, California · 16400 days ago · 25 km deep · 65 km away
  23. 1.643 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16400 days ago · 18 km deep · 22 km away
  24. 2.415 km W of Samoa, California · 16400 days ago · 23 km deep · 74 km away
  25. 2.911 km W of Ferndale, California · 16399 days ago · 22 km deep · 53 km away
  26. 2.635 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16399 days ago · 25 km deep · 29 km away
  27. 3.236 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16399 days ago · 28 km deep · 28 km away
  28. 1.638 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16399 days ago · 25 km deep · 28 km away
  29. 1.659 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16399 days ago · 6 km deep · 2 km away
  30. 2.059 km W of Ferndale, California · 16399 days ago · 10 km deep · 29 km away
  31. 2.63 km SE of Fortuna, California · 16398 days ago · 20 km deep · 72 km away
  32. 1.738 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16398 days ago · 22 km deep · 28 km away
  33. 2.647 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16398 days ago · 21 km deep · 15 km away
  34. 1.517 km W of Ferndale, California · 16398 days ago · 22 km deep · 48 km away
  35. 3.038 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16398 days ago · 29 km deep · 26 km away
  36. 3.036 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16398 days ago · 28 km deep · 28 km away
  37. 1.718 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16397 days ago · 22 km deep · 43 km away
  38. 1.826 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16397 days ago · 18 km deep · 36 km away
  39. 2.616 km ESE of Pine Hills, California · 16397 days ago · 24 km deep · 90 km away
  40. 3.294 km W of Ferndale, California · 16397 days ago · 18 km deep · 62 km away
  41. 1.836 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16397 days ago · 25 km deep · 28 km away
  42. 1.711 km E of Pine Hills, California · 16396 days ago · 25 km deep · 88 km away
  43. 2.311 km W of Indianola, California · 16396 days ago · 26 km deep · 63 km away
  44. 1.79 km WSW of Rio Dell, California · 16396 days ago · 23 km deep · 61 km away
  45. 2.641 km SW of Ferndale, CA · 16396 days ago · 26 km deep · 24 km away
  46. 1.835 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16396 days ago · 36 km deep · 29 km away
  47. 3.257 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16395 days ago · 20 km deep · 12 km away
  48. 2.137 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16394 days ago · 26 km deep · 27 km away
  49. 1.628 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16394 days ago · 20 km deep · 36 km away
  50. 2.138 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16393 days ago · 27 km deep · 26 km away
  51. 2.038 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16393 days ago · 29 km deep · 26 km away
  52. 1.536 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16393 days ago · 21 km deep · 31 km away
  53. 1.836 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16392 days ago · 27 km deep · 29 km away
  54. 2.137 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16392 days ago · 22 km deep · 29 km away
  55. 2.623 km WSW of Trinidad, California · 16391 days ago · 13 km deep · 92 km away
  56. 1.829 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16391 days ago · 25 km deep · 33 km away
  57. 1.731 km SW of Scotia, California · 16391 days ago · 4 km deep · 47 km away
  58. 2.231 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16391 days ago · 16 km deep · 31 km away
  59. 1.616 km WSW of Scotia, California · 16390 days ago · 30 km deep · 54 km away
  60. 1.8near the coast of Northern California · 16389 days ago · 30 km deep · 25 km away

The first 60 of 137.

Before

  1. 1.718 km W of Ferndale, California · 16407 days ago · 22 km deep · 46 km away
  2. 1.850 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16407 days ago · 30 km deep · 20 km away
  3. 3.0101 km W of Ferndale, California · 16408 days ago · 8 km deep · 58 km away
  4. 2.134 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16408 days ago · 25 km deep · 33 km away
  5. 1.539 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16408 days ago · 25 km deep · 32 km away
  6. 2.6110 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16409 days ago · 4 km deep · 57 km away
  7. 1.638 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16409 days ago · 31 km deep · 26 km away
  8. 1.822 km WSW of Weott, California · 16409 days ago · 4 km deep · 61 km away
  9. 1.96 km SE of Ferndale, California · 16410 days ago · 11 km deep · 65 km away
  10. 2.036 km SSW of Ferndale, California · 16410 days ago · 21 km deep · 32 km away
  11. 1.641 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16410 days ago · 20 km deep · 24 km away
  12. 1.518 km SW of Scotia, California · 16411 days ago · 22 km deep · 54 km away
  13. 1.814 km WNW of Samoa, California · 16411 days ago · 25 km deep · 80 km away
  14. 1.628 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16411 days ago · 25 km deep · 34 km away
  15. 2.550 km WNW of Ferndale, California · 16411 days ago · 3 km deep · 51 km away
  16. 1.643 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16411 days ago · 32 km deep · 18 km away
  17. 1.615 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16411 days ago · 24 km deep · 47 km away
  18. 2.3108 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16412 days ago · 4 km deep · 56 km away
  19. 3.593 km WSW of Ferndale, California · 16412 days ago · 5 km deep · 43 km away
  20. 1.633 km SW of Ferndale, California · 16412 days ago · 23 km deep · 29 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc1068812. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 9:42 PM UTC.