On Wednesday Night a Shallow M5.1 Earthquake struck in the North Pacific Ocean near Eureka (The United States).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on June 3rd, 2026.

A shallow and significant MAG-5.1 earthquake struck in the North Pacific Ocean 55 miles from Eureka, The United States in the early morning of Wednesday June 3rd, 2026. Roughly 290 thousand people may have felt this earthquake.

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the North Pacific Ocean, 47 miles (75 km) off the coast of The United States, 55 miles southwest of Eureka in California. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 0 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jun 3, 2026 05:45AM (Los Angeles Time) - Jun 3, 2026 12:45 Universal Time.
Location:	55 mi SW of Eureka, California, The United States. Coordinates 40°21'37"N 125°2'40"W.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.1 Detected by 84 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.046 .
Depth:	0 mi (0 km) A very shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	IV Light On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Minimal impact predicted

Based on scientific estimates by the US Geographic Survey (USGS), the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level GREEN (low). They expect an 90% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 fatalities.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level GREEN (low). They expect an 90% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact.

Roughly 290 thousand people exposed to shaking

This earthquake may have been felt by around 290 thousand people. That is the expected population size of the area exposed to a level of shaking of II or higher on the Modified Mercalli scale according to the USGS.

Weak shaking and probably no damage may have been experienced by an estimated 148,600 people. At III, it is the highest MMI level this earthquake has caused.

People	MMI Level	Shaking	Damage
1,400	I	Not noticable	None
138,800	II	Very weak	None
148,600	III	Weak	Probably none
0	IV	Light	Likely none
0	V	Moderate	Very light
0	VI	Strong	Light
0	VII	Very Strong	Moderate
0	VIII	Severe	Moderate to heavy
0	IX	Violent	Heavy
0	X	Extreme	Very heavy

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in The United States . Eureka in California, The United States is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Eureka. The intensity of shaking and damage in Eureka is estimated to be around level III on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (weak shaking, probably no damage).

A complete list of nearby places is included below. Estimated intensity data (MMI) sourced from a shake-map published by the US Geographic Survey is shown where available (cities without data probably experienced little impact).

Overview of nearby places

Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.
Distance	Place	Intensity (MMI)
55 mi (89 km) NE from epicenter	Eureka California, The United States.	III Weak
62 mi (99 km) NE from epicenter	Arcata California, The United States.	III Weak
62 mi (99 km) NE from epicenter	Bayside California, The United States.	III Weak
64 mi (103 km) NE from epicenter	McKinleyville California, The United States.	III Weak
129 mi (207 km) SE from epicenter	Ukiah California, The United States.	II Weak
140 mi (226 km) E from epicenter	Redding California, The United States.
161 mi (259 km) SE from epicenter	Clearlake California, The United States.	II Weak
169 mi (272 km) NE from epicenter	Grants Pass Oregon, The United States.
173 mi (278 km) SE from epicenter	Windsor California, The United States.	I Not felt
175 mi (282 km) E from epicenter	Chico California, The United States.
175 mi (282 km) NE from epicenter	Ashland Oregon, The United States.
176 mi (284 km) NE from epicenter	Medford Oregon, The United States.
178 mi (286 km) NE from epicenter	Central Point Oregon, The United States.
182 mi (293 km) SE from epicenter	Santa Rosa California, The United States.
186 mi (299 km) E from epicenter	Paradise California, The United States.

Earthquake Intensity Map

The graph below overlays a map of the region around the epicenter with earthquake intensity data provided by the US Geographic Survey. The highest intensity level detected for this earthquake is IV.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Earthquake Intensity Map based on Shakemap Data provided by USGS.

3 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 3 smaller aftershocks occurred. At a distance of 0.1 mi (0.2 km) northwest of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 26 mins later. It measured a magnitude of 4.5

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

Detected MAG2.5+ earthquakes within within 100km (62 mi), that occurred in the three days before and after the main shock.
Classification	Magnitude	When	Where
Main Shock This Earthquake	M 5.1	Jun 3, 2026 05:45AM (Los Angeles Time)	-
Aftershock	M 4.5	26 mins later Jun 3, 2026 06:11AM (Los Angeles Time)	0.1 mi (0.2 km) NW from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 2.8	2 hrs later Jun 3, 2026 08:05AM (Los Angeles Time)	0.6 mi (0.9 km) SE from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 3.9	3 hrs later Jun 3, 2026 08:51AM (Los Angeles Time)	1.9 mi (3 km) E from Main Shock.

More earthquakes coming?

Earthquakes can create aftershocks. These are generally at least 1 magnitude lower than any main shock, and as time passes the chance and strength of aftershocks decreases.

In only six percent of cases, significant earthquakes are followed by a larger main shock, making the current earthquake a foreshock. While the chance of this happening is not so large, it is adviced to maintain cautiousness in the hours and days following a major earthquake.

Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since June 3rd, 2026, when a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit 122 mi (196 km) further northwest. An even stronger magnitude 7 earthquake struck on December 5th, 2024.

In total, 24 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.1 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every 5 months.

Low tsunami risk

DISCLAIMER: We strongly suggest to closely monitor advice from local authorities with regards to tsunami risks. Our analysis is based on automatically collected data from external sources, and these might contain mistakes. In addition, earthquakes can cause landslides that may lead to a tsunami, or be a followed by another, potentially stonger, earthquake.

Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Factor	Under Sea?	MAG-6.5 or stronger?	Shallow depth?
Explanation	Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami.	Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami. MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes. MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's.	Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor.
This Earthquake	This earthquake appears to have struck under the sea.	Not this earthquake. This earthquake had a magnitude of 5.1. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.	This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 0 mi (0 km). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 03/06/26 16:58 (). As more information on this earthquake becomes available this article will be updated. This article is automatically composed based on data originating from multiple sources.