May 15, 1851 Earthquake: Northern, California, United States
An earthquake struck Northern, California, United States on May 15, 1851 at 16:10:00 UTC. It caused a tsunami.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- May 15, 1851
- Time
- 16:10:00 UTC
- Place
- Northern, California, United States
- Intensity
- 6 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 37.800° N, 122.400° W
- Country
- United States
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
1851, March, April and then May 15, 17, and 28. At San Francisco and Salinas, there were mild shocks with marine flooding. The tsunami is not mentioned in other sources. The American catalogues give additional information only for the shock of May 15. They mention that it occurred at 8:10 (local time), lasted about 1/2 minute, had an intensity of 7 degrees at San Francisco and was felt on board ships in the harbor (Reference #415).
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- April 18, 1906, San Francisco, California, United States
- October 18, 1989, Loma Prieta, California, United States
- October 21, 1868, Hayward,san Francisco, California, United States
- August 24, 2014, Napa, Vallejo, California, United States
- October 2, 1969, Santa Rosa, California, United States
- October 22, 1854, Northern, California, United States
- October 22, 1855, San Francisco, California, United States
- February 10, 1869, San Francisco, California, United States
- February 13, 1869, San Francisco, California, United States
- July 20, 2007, Montclair, California, United States
- June 1838, San Francisco,san Jose,santa Clara, California, United States
- September 24, 1859, Half Moon Bay, California, United States
- February 15, 1856, Northern, California, United States
- March 22, 1957, San Mateo County, California, United States
- June 10, 1836, California, United States
More
Significant earthquakes of 1851The 1800sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 6064.