The April 5, 1961 earthquake
M5.1near Ferndale, California
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake, 21.2 miles off Humboldt County. The 382nd strongest in California’s record since 1900, and the strongest within 50 miles since a magnitude 6.0 on June 5, 1960.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.1
- local magnitude (ml)
- Depth
- —
- Not recorded
- Local time
- Wednesday, April 5, 1961
- 20:04 PST; 04:04 UTC on Apr 6, 1961
- In California’s record
- 382nd
- strongest of 97,065 since 1900
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, event ushis2490 (“60 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 · 21.2 mi
- Mendocino CountyCA · 40.4 mi
Cities, largest first
- FortunaCA · 42.5 mi
Earthquakes around the epicentre
2,319 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
- February 9, 1941M6.8
- October 3, 1941M6.5
- June 6, 1932M6.5
- October 7, 1951M6.0
- September 22, 1952M6.0
- June 5, 1960M6.0
- March 18, 1910M6.0
- October 28, 1909M6.0
- December 20, 1940M6.0
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog. Local time is the time zone of the county nearest the epicentre. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them.