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M4.8 earthquake 108 km W of Fortuna, California, United States

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 108 km W of Fortuna, California, United States at 04:36 local time (11:36 UTC) on 29 Sept 2026, at a depth of 10 km, according to USGS and GFZ.

Reported by 2 agencies · revised from M4.5 · 16 reports to USGS “Did You Feel It?”

Data: USGS, GFZ · updated 2026-09-29 20:10 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude
4.8light
moment magnitude (mw)
revised from 4.5
Depth
10 km
Status
Reviewed
Origin time
2026-09-29 11:36:39 UTC
Local: 29 Sept 2026, 04:36:39 (America/Los Angeles)
Epicentre
40.422° N, 125.418° W

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Circles show this event and others within 31 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map

Nearby places

Distance and estimated shaking at nearby places
PlaceDistanceEst. shaking
FortunaCalifornia, United States · pop. 12,000108 kmIIWeak
EurekaCalifornia, United States · pop. 27,017114 kmIIWeak
San FranciscoCalifornia, United States · pop. 827,526392 kmINot felt
SacramentoCalifornia, United States · pop. 524,943394 kmINot felt
OaklandCalifornia, United States · pop. 419,267398 kmINot felt

Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more. Likely felt out to about 99 km.

Every agency's solution

Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS · NC, which has been reviewed by an analyst.

AgencyMagnitudeDepthEpicentreTime offsetStatus
USGS · NCheadlineNorthern California Seismic System via U.S. Geological Survey4.8 mwwas 4.710 km40.42° N, 125.42° W–Reviewed · 5 revisions
GFZGFZ via GEOFON, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences4.7 mb10 km40.60° N, 125.25° W+4.1 sAutomatic

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How big was it?

Widely felt near the epicentre: rattling windows and objects. Significant damage is unlikely.

It released roughly the energy of 215 t of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 10 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.

M4.8 releases about 29× the energy of M3.8, and its waves are about 9.3× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 215 t of TNT vs 7.6 t of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M3.8. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

No later earthquakes have been recorded within 31 km so far. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Did you feel it?

Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.

How strong was the shaking where you were?

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Reports on SeismoAtlas

No reports yet.

USGS “Did You Feel It?” has 16 reports: add yours at USGS.

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Event id ew1790681810. First recorded here 29 Sept 2026, 11:37:45 UTC. Solutions: USGS · NC (usgs:nc75444322); GFZ (geofon:gfz2026tcai). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M4.8 earthquake 108 km W of Fortuna, California, United States”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/ew1790681810-m4-8-earthquake-108-km-w-of-fortuna-california-united-states, data from USGS, GFZ.

JSON: /api/v1/events/ew1790681810. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.