The February 6, 1937 earthquake
M5.9near Ferndale, California
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake 6.2 miles deep, 34.3 miles off Humboldt County. The 98th strongest in California’s record since 1900, and the strongest within 50 miles since a magnitude 6.5 on June 6, 1932.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.9
- moment magnitude (mw)
- Depth
- 6.2 mi
- 10.0 km below the surface
- Local time
- Saturday, February 6, 1937
- 20:41 PST; 04:41 UTC on Feb 7, 1937
- In California’s record
- 98th
- strongest of 97,065 since 1900
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, event iscgem902937 (“62 km W of Ferndale, California”). The USGS event page carries the ShakeMap, felt reports and the official summary.
Counties and cities within 50 miles
Distance from the epicentre to each county boundary (zero when inside) and to each city centre.
Counties
- Humboldt CountyCA · 34.3 mi
Earthquakes around the epicentre
2,359 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more within 50 miles of this epicentre since 1973.
Earlier earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more within 50 miles, strongest first
- January 22, 1923M7.1
- July 14, 1918M6.5
- June 6, 1932M6.5
- April 23, 1906M6.4
- March 18, 1910M6.0
- October 28, 1909M6.0
- September 9, 1931M5.8
- April 28, 1923M5.6
- March 9, 1931M5.6
- August 20, 1927M5.3
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog. Local time is the time zone of the county nearest the epicentre. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them.