The September 13, 1970 earthquake
M5.6near Ferndale, California
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake 9.3 miles deep, 44.7 miles off Humboldt County. The 172nd strongest in California’s record since 1900, and the strongest within 50 miles since a magnitude 5.9 on June 25, 1968.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.6
- moment magnitude (mw)
- Depth
- 9.3 mi
- 15.0 km below the surface
- Local time
- Sunday, September 13, 1970
- 14:10 PDT; 21:10 UTC
- In California’s record
- 172nd
- strongest of 97,065 since 1900
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, event iscgem791977 (“88 km WSW 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 · 44.7 mi
Earthquakes around the epicentre
2,025 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
- October 7, 1951M6.0
- September 22, 1952M6.0
- March 18, 1910M6.0
- June 5, 1960M6.0
- December 10, 1967M6.0
- June 25, 1968M5.9
- February 6, 1937M5.9
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog. Local time is the time zone of the county nearest the epicentre. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them.