The September 11, 1938 earthquake
M5.8near Ferndale, California
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake 9.3 miles deep, 11.3 miles off Humboldt County. The 106th strongest in California’s record since 1900, and the strongest within 50 miles since a magnitude 5.9 on February 6, 1937.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.8
- moment magnitude (mw)
- Depth
- 9.3 mi
- 15.0 km below the surface
- Local time
- Sunday, September 11, 1938
- 22:10 PST; 06:10 UTC on Sep 12, 1938
- In California’s record
- 106th
- strongest of 97,065 since 1900
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, event iscgem902671 (“44 km SW 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 · 11.3 mi
- Mendocino CountyCA · 33.9 mi
Earthquakes around the epicentre
2,420 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
- June 6, 1932M6.5
- March 18, 1910M6.0
- October 28, 1909M6.0
- February 6, 1937M5.9
- August 18, 1908M5.8
- September 9, 1931M5.8
- April 28, 1923M5.8
- March 9, 1931M5.6
- September 11, 1938M5.5
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog. Local time is the time zone of the county nearest the epicentre. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them.