M3.5 earthquake 43 km WSW of Ferndale, California

Magnitude

3.5 (ml), minor

Local time

Thu, Jan 31, 1985, 12:37 PM PST

UTC

1985-01-31 20:37:45 UTC

Depth

14.8 km (9.2 mi), shallow

Epicenter

40.372° N, 124.698° W

Region

California

Tsunami flag

No

Status

Reviewed by a seismologist

Location uncertainty

About 1.5 km horizontally, 1.2 km in depth

Depth from

From location

Station coverage gap

242°, poorly surrounded by stations

Stations used

38

• Ferndale, CaliforniaPopulation 1,369. Forecast43 kmWSW
• Fortuna, CaliforniaPopulation 12,000. Forecast52 kmWSW
• Chico, CaliforniaPopulation 121,345. Forecast254 kmWNW

After

1. 3.438 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Feb 3, 12:49 AM PST · 15206 days ago · 19 km deep · 15 km away
2. 3.3112 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Feb 3, 10:23 AM PST · 15206 days ago · 12 km deep · 75 km away
3. 1.715 km WSW of Hyampom, CaliforniaMon, Feb 4, 12:08 AM PST · 15205 days ago · 15 km deep · 94 km away
4. 3.293 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Feb 4, 7:55 AM PST · 15205 days ago · 21 km deep · 54 km away
5. 2.659 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Feb 5, 6:19 PM PST · 15203 days ago · 10 km deep · 17 km away
6. 2.945 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Feb 6, 1:26 AM PST · 15203 days ago · 22 km deep · 2 km away
7. 2.612 km SSW of Scotia, CaliforniaWed, Feb 6, 8:17 PM PST · 15202 days ago · 29 km deep · 48 km away
8. 2.728 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Feb 7, 9:11 AM PST · 15202 days ago · 21 km deep · 17 km away
9. 1.619 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Feb 15, 1:51 AM PST · 15194 days ago · -1 km deep · 25 km away
10. 3.0109 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Feb 16, 4:05 PM PST · 15192 days ago · 5 km deep · 79 km away
11. 2.07 km WSW of Samoa, CaliforniaTue, Feb 19, 6:28 PM PST · 15189 days ago · 4 km deep · 59 km away
12. 2.951 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Feb 20, 3:53 PM PST · 15188 days ago · 13 km deep · 8 km away
13. 3.529 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaFri, Feb 22, 5:42 PM PST · 15186 days ago · 9 km deep · 31 km away
14. 2.514 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Feb 22, 8:37 PM PST · 15186 days ago · 26 km deep · 28 km away
15. 2.853 km WNW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Feb 23, 1:51 PM PST · 15185 days ago · 41 km deep · 41 km away
16. 2.228 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaSun, Feb 24, 4:13 AM PST · 15185 days ago · 10 km deep · 30 km away
17. 1.726 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaSun, Feb 24, 6:49 AM PST · 15185 days ago · 3 km deep · 32 km away
18. 2.126 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaSun, Feb 24, 7:49 AM PST · 15185 days ago · 5 km deep · 33 km away
19. 2.532 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Feb 24, 1:36 PM PST · 15185 days ago · 11 km deep · 13 km away
20. 1.529 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaSun, Feb 24, 3:23 PM PST · 15184 days ago · 2 km deep · 31 km away
21. 2.028 km SE of Blue Lake, CaliforniaMon, Feb 25, 4:18 PM PST · 15183 days ago · 22 km deep · 85 km away
22. 2.637 km W of Big Lagoon, CaliforniaSun, Mar 3, 6:08 PM PST · 15177 days ago · 4 km deep · 89 km away
23. 3.035 km W of Big Lagoon, CaliforniaSun, Mar 3, 6:55 PM PST · 15177 days ago · 17 km deep · 86 km away
24. 2.63 km ESE of Scotia, CaliforniaSun, Mar 3, 9:20 PM PST · 15177 days ago · 18 km deep · 55 km away
25. 2.761 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Mar 15, 1:34 PM PST · 15166 days ago · 25 km deep · 20 km away
26. 1.832 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Mar 16, 3:17 AM PST · 15165 days ago · 4 km deep · 21 km away
27. 2.312 km W of Indianola, CaliforniaMon, Mar 18, 4:49 AM PST · 15163 days ago · 19 km deep · 45 km away
28. 1.827 km WSW of Leggett, CaliforniaTue, Mar 19, 2:27 PM PST · 15161 days ago · 2 km deep · 92 km away
29. 3.043 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Mar 20, 8:19 PM PST · 15160 days ago · 18 km deep · 6 km away
30. 2.932 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Mar 21, 7:45 AM PST · 15160 days ago · 20 km deep · 16 km away
31. 2.49 km S of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Mar 22, 7:26 PM PST · 15158 days ago · 26 km deep · 38 km away
32. 1.930 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Mar 22, 11:54 PM PST · 15158 days ago · 7 km deep · 25 km away
33. 2.831 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaMon, Mar 25, 12:19 AM PST · 15156 days ago · 21 km deep · 29 km away
34. 2.521 km WSW of Scotia, CaliforniaMon, Mar 25, 7:11 PM PST · 15155 days ago · 22 km deep · 33 km away
35. 2.48 km ESE of Hydesville, CaliforniaThu, Mar 28, 4:14 PM PST · 15152 days ago · 20 km deep · 61 km away
36. 3.071 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Mar 29, 5:44 AM PST · 15152 days ago · 4 km deep · 44 km away
37. 1.815 km N of Shelter Cove, CaliforniaFri, Mar 29, 3:33 PM PST · 15151 days ago · 23 km deep · 56 km away
38. 2.031 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Mar 30, 2:46 AM PST · 15151 days ago · 4 km deep · 23 km away
39. 2.843 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Mar 31, 11:51 AM PST · 15150 days ago · 11 km deep · 19 km away
40. 1.72 km ESE of Garberville, CaliforniaSun, Mar 31, 10:45 PM PST · 15149 days ago · 20 km deep · 85 km away

Before

1. 2.647 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Jan 31, 4:52 AM PST · 15209 days ago · 0 km deep · 20 km away
2. 2.325 km NNE of Redcrest, CaliforniaWed, Jan 30, 10:46 AM PST · 15210 days ago · 7 km deep · 80 km away
3. 1.68 km WSW of Scotia, CaliforniaTue, Jan 29, 12:56 AM PST · 15211 days ago · 5 km deep · 44 km away
4. 2.465 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Jan 28, 10:40 PM PST · 15211 days ago · 14 km deep · 22 km away
5. 3.052 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Jan 28, 10:38 PM PST · 15211 days ago · 10 km deep · 9 km away
6. 2.222 km WNW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Jan 27, 7:59 AM PST · 15213 days ago · 14 km deep · 37 km away
7. 2.423 km WSW of Weott, CaliforniaSat, Jan 26, 2:34 PM PST · 15213 days ago · 10 km deep · 47 km away
8. 2.328 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Jan 26, 6:03 AM PST · 15214 days ago · 28 km deep · 16 km away
9. 2.1near the coast of Northern CaliforniaWed, Jan 23, 1:34 PM PST · 15217 days ago · 2 km deep · 60 km away
10. 2.0near the coast of Northern CaliforniaWed, Jan 23, 1:29 PM PST · 15217 days ago · 1 km deep · 60 km away
11. 2.743 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Jan 21, 1:33 AM PST · 15219 days ago · 20 km deep · 7 km away
12. 2.136 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Jan 19, 10:51 PM PST · 15220 days ago · 22 km deep · 13 km away
13. 1.74 km WNW of Fields Landing, CaliforniaSat, Jan 19, 9:52 PM PST · 15220 days ago · 7 km deep · 55 km away
14. 2.936 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Jan 19, 4:14 PM PST · 15220 days ago · 7 km deep · 24 km away
15. 2.23 km WSW of Loleta, CaliforniaSat, Jan 19, 10:33 AM PST · 15221 days ago · 16 km deep · 47 km away
16. 2.872 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Jan 16, 8:02 AM PST · 15224 days ago · 4 km deep · 32 km away
17. 3.879 km WNW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Jan 15, 11:36 PM PST · 15224 days ago · 2 km deep · 58 km away
18. 2.439 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Jan 15, 9:25 PM PST · 15224 days ago · 4 km deep · 12 km away
19. 2.436 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Jan 13, 6:14 AM PST · 15227 days ago · 20 km deep · 21 km away
20. 2.125 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Jan 12, 7:41 PM PST · 15227 days ago · 14 km deep · 27 km away

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc39497 (also filed as usp0002bhn). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 9:15 AM UTC.