M2.5 earthquake 4 km SE of Palermo, California

Magnitude

2.5 (Md, duration), micro

Magnitude from

Northern California Seismic System

Local time

Wed, Jul 15, 1981, 5:53 PM PDT

UTC

1981-07-16 00:53:25 UTC

Depth

6.9 km (4.3 mi), shallow

Epicenter

39.402° N, 121.505° W

Region

California

Tsunami flag

No

Status

Reviewed by a seismologist

Location uncertainty

About 0.4 km horizontally, 0.8 km in depth

Magnitude uncertainty

±0.02

Depth from

From location

Station coverage gap

97°

Stations used

13

• Palermo, CaliforniaPopulation 5,382. Forecast5 kmSE
• Oroville, CaliforniaPopulation 16,260. Forecast13 kmSSE
• Chico, CaliforniaPopulation 121,345. Forecast46 kmSE
• Los Angeles, CaliforniaPopulation 3,820,914. Forecast662 kmNNW

After

1. 2.611 km NE of Nord, CaliforniaThu, Jul 16, 3:56 AM PDT · 16513 days ago · 21 km deep · 58 km away
2. 1.825 km SSW of Kingvale, CaliforniaThu, Jul 16, 10:26 PM PDT · 16512 days ago · 9 km deep · 92 km away
3. 2.3Northern CaliforniaSat, Jul 18, 6:07 AM PDT · 16511 days ago · 2 km deep · 21 km away
4. 2.86 km NNW of Thermalito, CaliforniaSat, Jul 18, 4:03 PM PDT · 16510 days ago · 2 km deep · 20 km away
5. 1.52 km ESE of Nord, CaliforniaMon, Jul 20, 7:10 AM PDT · 16509 days ago · 14 km deep · 55 km away
6. 1.82 km NE of Canyondam, CaliforniaMon, Jul 20, 9:14 AM PDT · 16508 days ago · 2 km deep · 96 km away
7. 2.0Northern CaliforniaMon, Jul 20, 8:51 PM PDT · 16508 days ago · 13 km deep · 99 km away
8. 1.66 km NW of Plumas Eureka (historical), CaliforniaTue, Jul 21, 9:28 PM PDT · 16507 days ago · 1 km deep · 78 km away
9. 1.93 km SW of East Shore, CaliforniaWed, Jul 22, 12:38 AM PDT · 16507 days ago · 1 km deep · 97 km away
10. 2.75 km ESE of Chico, CaliforniaThu, Jul 23, 5:08 AM PDT · 16506 days ago · 19 km deep · 42 km away
11. 2.56 km SSE of Dunnigan, CaliforniaFri, Jul 24, 7:12 PM PDT · 16504 days ago · 10 km deep · 74 km away
12. 2.010 km W of Lake Almanor West, CaliforniaSat, Jul 25, 8:48 AM PDT · 16504 days ago · 3 km deep · 94 km away
13. 1.94 km SE of Palermo, CaliforniaSun, Jul 26, 3:07 AM PDT · 16503 days ago · 6 km deep · 1 km away
14. 2.14 km SSW of Whitehawk, CaliforniaSun, Jul 26, 11:39 AM PDT · 16502 days ago · 14 km deep · 85 km away
15. 1.86 km WSW of Durham, CaliforniaSat, Aug 1, 9:26 AM PDT · 16496 days ago · 29 km deep · 39 km away
16. 2.91 km ENE of Clipper Mills, CaliforniaSat, Aug 1, 4:38 PM PDT · 16496 days ago · 8 km deep · 34 km away
17. 1.6Northern CaliforniaTue, Aug 4, 3:16 PM PDT · 16493 days ago · 3 km deep · 98 km away
18. 1.97 km ESE of Los Molinos, CaliforniaFri, Aug 7, 11:02 AM PDT · 16490 days ago · 3 km deep · 79 km away
19. 1.615 km NNE of Butte Meadows, CaliforniaSun, Aug 9, 4:28 AM PDT · 16489 days ago · 3 km deep · 90 km away
20. 1.710 km SE of Mineral, CaliforniaSun, Aug 16, 8:50 AM PDT · 16482 days ago · 2 km deep · 99 km away
21. 1.76 km SSE of Palermo, CaliforniaMon, Aug 17, 12:09 PM PDT · 16480 days ago · 1 km deep · 2 km away
22. 1.51 km E of Oroville, CaliforniaWed, Aug 19, 4:44 AM PDT · 16479 days ago · 10 km deep · 13 km away
23. 3.13 km WSW of Spring Garden, CaliforniaSat, Aug 29, 11:57 AM PDT · 16468 days ago · 0 km deep · 79 km away
24. 2.66 km S of Kingvale, CaliforniaMon, Aug 31, 11:34 AM PDT · 16466 days ago · 11 km deep · 94 km away
25. 1.76 km SSW of Hamilton City, CaliforniaSun, Sep 6, 3:36 AM PDT · 16461 days ago · 19 km deep · 56 km away
26. 2.14 km SE of Palermo, CaliforniaMon, Sep 7, 4:35 AM PDT · 16460 days ago · 6 km deep · 1 km away
27. 2.52 km ESE of Prattville, CaliforniaWed, Sep 9, 2:42 PM PDT · 16457 days ago · 2 km deep · 94 km away
28. 3.02 km ENE of Prattville, CaliforniaWed, Sep 9, 9:06 PM PDT · 16457 days ago · 12 km deep · 96 km away
29. 2.81 km ENE of Lake Almanor West, CaliforniaThu, Sep 10, 2:22 AM PDT · 16457 days ago · 2 km deep · 97 km away

Before

1. 1.50 km NW of Lake Almanor Country Club, CaliforniaWed, Jul 15, 3:22 PM PDT · 16513 days ago · 2 km deep · 99 km away
2. 2.54 km SE of Palermo, CaliforniaTue, Jul 14, 2:30 PM PDT · 16514 days ago · 7 km deep · 0 km away
3. 2.03 km ESE of Palermo, CaliforniaMon, Jul 13, 8:27 AM PDT · 16516 days ago · 4 km deep · 2 km away
4. 1.612 km WSW of Chester, CaliforniaThu, Jul 9, 9:32 AM PDT · 16519 days ago · 3 km deep · 98 km away
5. 2.24 km W of Stonyford, CaliforniaFri, Jul 3, 8:20 PM PDT · 16525 days ago · 3 km deep · 94 km away
6. 1.96 km W of Stonyford, CaliforniaFri, Jul 3, 2:33 PM PDT · 16525 days ago · 0 km deep · 95 km away
7. 1.94 km SE of Palermo, CaliforniaWed, Jul 1, 6:44 PM PDT · 16527 days ago · 7 km deep · 0 km away
8. 1.84 km SE of Palermo, CaliforniaTue, Jun 30, 11:50 AM PDT · 16528 days ago · 5 km deep · 0 km away
9. 3.45 km SE of Palermo, CaliforniaTue, Jun 30, 7:56 AM PDT · 16529 days ago · 7 km deep · 1 km away
10. 2.11 km SW of Stonyford, CaliforniaSat, Jun 27, 4:33 AM PDT · 16532 days ago · 7 km deep · 91 km away
11. 2.212 km WSW of Chester, CaliforniaWed, Jun 24, 11:29 AM PDT · 16534 days ago · 3 km deep · 95 km away
12. 3.12 km NNW of Belden, CaliforniaMon, Jun 22, 7:16 PM PDT · 16536 days ago · 5 km deep · 73 km away
13. 2.84 km ESE of Palermo, CaliforniaMon, Jun 22, 4:37 PM PDT · 16536 days ago · 5 km deep · 3 km away
14. 2.421 km WSW of Williams, CaliforniaMon, Jun 22, 2:15 PM PDT · 16536 days ago · -1 km deep · 83 km away
15. 3.518 km WSW of Williams, CaliforniaMon, Jun 22, 6:32 AM PDT · 16537 days ago · 12 km deep · 81 km away
16. 1.81 km NNE of Clipper Mills, CaliforniaSun, Jun 21, 1:19 PM PDT · 16537 days ago · 7 km deep · 34 km away

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc1065592. Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 3:31 AM UTC.