M3.5 earthquake 28 km SW of Ferndale, California

Magnitude

3.5 (Md, duration), minor

Magnitude from

Northern California Seismic System

Local time

Sat, Oct 5, 1985, 9:34 PM PDT

UTC

1985-10-06 04:34:06 UTC

Depth

15.8 km (9.8 mi), shallow

Epicenter

40.377° N, 124.467° W

Region

California

Tsunami flag

No

Status

Reviewed by a seismologist

Location uncertainty

About 0.8 km horizontally, 0.6 km in depth

Magnitude uncertainty

±0.14

Depth from

From location

Station coverage gap

250°, poorly surrounded by stations

Stations used

10

• Ferndale, CaliforniaPopulation 1,369. Forecast28 kmSW
• Fortuna, CaliforniaPopulation 12,000. Forecast36 kmSW
• Chico, CaliforniaPopulation 121,345. Forecast235 kmWNW
• Los Angeles, CaliforniaPopulation 3,820,914. Forecast893 kmNW

After

1. 3.066 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Oct 8, 1:33 AM PDT · 14969 days ago · 3 km deep · 43 km away
2. 1.714 km W of Ruth, CaliforniaWed, Oct 9, 3:47 AM PDT · 14967 days ago · -1 km deep · 84 km away
3. 2.720 km SW of Weott, CaliforniaFri, Oct 11, 2:11 AM PDT · 14966 days ago · 4 km deep · 35 km away
4. 2.041 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Oct 11, 4:43 PM PDT · 14965 days ago · 23 km deep · 17 km away
5. 3.337 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Oct 13, 6:14 PM PDT · 14963 days ago · 25 km deep · 10 km away
6. 2.625 km SE of Blue Lake, CaliforniaSat, Oct 19, 4:11 PM PDT · 14957 days ago · 53 km deep · 69 km away
7. 2.312 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaMon, Oct 21, 1:42 AM PDT · 14956 days ago · 6 km deep · 23 km away
8. 3.622 km WNW of Indianola, CaliforniaFri, Oct 25, 6:56 PM PDT · 14951 days ago · 21 km deep · 40 km away
9. 3.122 km WSW of Weott, CaliforniaSat, Oct 26, 4:41 PM PDT · 14950 days ago · 13 km deep · 31 km away
10. 3.073 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Oct 26, 6:32 PM PDT · 14950 days ago · 12 km deep · 53 km away
11. 2.98 km WNW of McKinleyville, CaliforniaTue, Oct 29, 7:48 PM PST · 14947 days ago · 18 km deep · 70 km away
12. 1.917 km NW of Willow Creek, CaliforniaWed, Oct 30, 8:44 PM PST · 14946 days ago · -1 km deep · 98 km away
13. 2.719 km WNW of Indianola, CaliforniaThu, Oct 31, 7:31 PM PST · 14945 days ago · 20 km deep · 42 km away
14. 2.360 km W of Indianola, CaliforniaWed, Nov 6, 5:35 AM PST · 14939 days ago · 4 km deep · 59 km away
15. 2.235 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Nov 6, 9:25 PM PST · 14939 days ago · 18 km deep · 10 km away
16. 1.734 km NW of Shelter Cove, CaliforniaWed, Nov 6, 9:36 PM PST · 14939 days ago · 4 km deep · 20 km away
17. 4.175 km WNW of Ferndale, CaliforniaFri, Nov 8, 5:02 AM PST · 14937 days ago · 2 km deep · 71 km away
18. 2.52 km NNE of Humboldt Hill, CaliforniaFri, Nov 8, 1:59 PM PST · 14937 days ago · 19 km deep · 48 km away
19. 2.29 km WNW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Nov 9, 8:44 PM PST · 14936 days ago · 11 km deep · 28 km away
20. 1.77 km NE of Phillipsville, CaliforniaMon, Nov 11, 4:24 PM PST · 14934 days ago · 8 km deep · 64 km away
21. 2.88 km E of Leggett, CaliforniaMon, Nov 11, 8:15 PM PST · 14934 days ago · 0 km deep · 93 km away
22. 2.646 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaMon, Nov 11, 11:10 PM PST · 14934 days ago · 1 km deep · 22 km away
23. 2.537 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Nov 12, 2:17 AM PST · 14934 days ago · 21 km deep · 9 km away
24. 1.610 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Nov 13, 1:35 AM PST · 14933 days ago · 15 km deep · 23 km away
25. 2.113 km ENE of Fieldbrook, CaliforniaSun, Nov 17, 1:16 AM PST · 14929 days ago · 4 km deep · 86 km away
26. 1.819 km WSW of Scotia, CASun, Nov 17, 9:26 AM PST · 14928 days ago · 4 km deep · 15 km away
27. 2.644 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Nov 17, 10:03 PM PST · 14928 days ago · 19 km deep · 20 km away
28. 3.235 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Nov 19, 7:08 AM PST · 14926 days ago · 38 km deep · 18 km away
29. 2.533 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Nov 19, 8:43 AM PST · 14926 days ago · 25 km deep · 10 km away
30. 2.378 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Nov 19, 11:00 PM PST · 14926 days ago · 4 km deep · 60 km away
31. 3.055 km W of Shelter Cove, CaliforniaWed, Nov 20, 11:16 AM PST · 14925 days ago · 4 km deep · 34 km away
32. 2.725 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Nov 20, 11:08 PM PST · 14925 days ago · 39 km deep · 8 km away
33. 3.78 km NNW of Alderpoint, CaliforniaFri, Nov 22, 11:27 PM PST · 14923 days ago · 28 km deep · 70 km away
34. 1.613 km SW of Mad River, CaliforniaFri, Nov 22, 11:44 PM PST · 14923 days ago · 4 km deep · 70 km away
35. 1.710 km NE of Phillipsville, CaliforniaFri, Nov 22, 11:47 PM PST · 14923 days ago · 24 km deep · 67 km away
36. 2.210 km NE of Phillipsville, CaliforniaSat, Nov 23, 12:47 AM PST · 14923 days ago · 29 km deep · 67 km away
37. 2.856 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Nov 23, 9:08 PM PST · 14922 days ago · 16 km deep · 37 km away
38. 2.49 km NNW of Alderpoint, CaliforniaSat, Nov 23, 9:30 PM PST · 14922 days ago · 26 km deep · 69 km away
39. 1.810 km NE of Phillipsville, CaliforniaSat, Nov 23, 11:17 PM PST · 14922 days ago · 26 km deep · 66 km away
40. 1.817 km NE of Myers Flat, CaliforniaSun, Nov 24, 6:25 PM PST · 14921 days ago · 22 km deep · 63 km away
41. 2.118 km ENE of Weott, CaliforniaSun, Nov 24, 6:26 PM PST · 14921 days ago · 19 km deep · 62 km away
42. 3.236 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Nov 27, 8:02 PM PST · 14918 days ago · 30 km deep · 18 km away
43. 1.73 km SSW of Loleta, CaliforniaWed, Nov 27, 9:22 PM PST · 14918 days ago · 4 km deep · 32 km away
44. 2.29 km N of Mad River, CaliforniaTue, Dec 3, 1:03 PM PST · 14912 days ago · 4 km deep · 85 km away
45. 1.648 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Dec 3, 1:35 PM PST · 14912 days ago · 4 km deep · 23 km away

Before

1. 1.925 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Oct 5, 8:51 PM PDT · 14971 days ago · 27 km deep · 4 km away
2. 2.422 km NW of Mad River, CaliforniaSat, Oct 5, 4:49 AM PDT · 14971 days ago · 23 km deep · 67 km away
3. 2.221 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Oct 5, 12:12 AM PDT · 14972 days ago · 22 km deep · 11 km away
4. 1.722 km WSW of Weott, CaliforniaFri, Oct 4, 3:30 PM PDT · 14972 days ago · 9 km deep · 28 km away
5. 2.14 km ESE of Fortuna, CaliforniaFri, Oct 4, 12:52 PM PDT · 14972 days ago · 22 km deep · 39 km away
6. 1.835 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Sep 29, 8:49 PM PDT · 14977 days ago · 25 km deep · 15 km away
7. 1.818 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Sep 29, 8:14 PM PDT · 14977 days ago · 26 km deep · 11 km away
8. 1.619 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Sep 29, 7:56 PM PDT · 14977 days ago · 26 km deep · 11 km away
9. 1.84 km N of Hydesville, CaliforniaSun, Sep 29, 6:12 PM PDT · 14977 days ago · 19 km deep · 39 km away
10. 2.541 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSun, Sep 29, 8:57 AM PDT · 14977 days ago · 16 km deep · 26 km away
11. 2.979 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Sep 28, 1:00 PM PDT · 14978 days ago · 4 km deep · 59 km away
12. 1.831 km SSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Sep 28, 12:32 PM PDT · 14978 days ago · 4 km deep · 6 km away
13. 2.04 km NE of Hydesville, CaliforniaThu, Sep 26, 4:14 PM PDT · 14980 days ago · 25 km deep · 41 km away
14. 1.648 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaThu, Sep 26, 9:12 AM PDT · 14980 days ago · 3 km deep · 23 km away
15. 2.210 km SW of Scotia, CaliforniaTue, Sep 24, 11:20 PM PDT · 14982 days ago · 12 km deep · 26 km away
16. 3.656 km WSW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Sep 21, 4:58 AM PDT · 14985 days ago · 7 km deep · 35 km away
17. 1.71 km SW of Redway, CaliforniaFri, Sep 20, 2:50 PM PDT · 14986 days ago · 19 km deep · 61 km away
18. 3.337 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaWed, Sep 11, 3:01 PM PDT · 14995 days ago · 2 km deep · 13 km away
19. 2.654 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaTue, Sep 10, 9:37 PM PDT · 14996 days ago · 7 km deep · 27 km away
20. 2.837 km SW of Ferndale, CaliforniaSat, Sep 7, 7:55 AM PDT · 14999 days ago · 21 km deep · 9 km away

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc56490. Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 9:50 PM UTC.