M5.0 earthquake 122 km W of Fortuna, California, United States
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 122 km W of Fortuna, California, United States at 20:56 local time (04:56 UTC) on 4 Nov 2026, at a depth of 10 km, according to USGS and GFZ.
Reported by 2 agencies · revised from M4.6 · 121 reports to USGS “Did You Feel It?”
Data: USGS, GFZ · updated 2026-11-05 11:48 UTC · reviewed
- Magnitude
- 5.0light
moment magnitude (mw)
revised from 4.6 - Depth
- 10 km
- Status
- Reviewed
- Origin time
- 2026-11-05 04:56:02 UTC
- Local: 4 Nov 2026, 20:56:02 (America/Los Angeles)
- Epicentre
- 40.407° N, 125.585° W
Circles show this event and others within 38 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Est. shaking |
|---|---|---|
| FortunaCalifornia, United States · pop. 12,000 | 122 km | IIWeak |
| EurekaCalifornia, United States · pop. 27,017 | 128 km | IIWeak |
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 122 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.
| Agency | Magnitude | Depth | Epicentre | Time offset | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USGS · NCheadlineNorthern California Seismic System via U.S. Geological Survey | 5.0 mwwas 4.6 | 10 km | 40.41° N, 125.59° W | – | Reviewed · 4 revisions |
| GFZGFZ via GEOFON, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences | 5.0 mbwas 4.9 | 10 km | 40.51° N, 125.47° W | +2.7 s | Automatic · 1 revision |
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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 415 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.
M5.0 releases about 28× the energy of M4.0, and its waves are about 9.1× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 415 t of TNT vs 15 t of TNT.
Each square is the energy of one M4.0. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.
Aftershocks and nearby activity
No later earthquakes have been recorded within 38 km so far. 2 in the 7 days before. 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.
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Event id ew1793854580. First recorded here 5 Nov 2026, 04:57:04 UTC. Solutions: USGS · NC (usgs:nc75462637); GFZ (geofon:gfz2026vrcs). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M5.0 earthquake 122 km W of Fortuna, California, United States”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/ew1793854580-m5-0-earthquake-122-km-w-of-fortuna-california-united-states, data from USGS, GFZ.
JSON: /api/v1/events/ew1793854580. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.