Magnitude 5.6 quake rattles Northern California; ShakeAlerts reach Sacramento area

A moderate earthquake struck Northern California’s Mendocino County on Wednesday morning, triggering ShakeAlert notifications across a wide swath of the state, including the Sacramento region.

The magnitude 5.6 quake struck at 8:10 a.m. about 7 miles north of Redwood Valley, a small Mendocino County community of about 2,000 residents located roughly 10 miles north of Ukiah, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was about 70 miles north of Santa Rosa, 108 miles northwest of Sacramento and 113 miles south of Arcata.

The USGS said the quake occurred at a depth of about 5 miles.

Residents across the Sacramento region reported receiving ShakeAlert warnings on their phones before shaking from the distant quake reached the area, though many said they did not feel it. The alerts are designed to give people farther from an earthquake’s epicenter several seconds of warning before seismic waves arrive.

The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services said nearly 657,000 earthquake early-warning alerts were sent through the MyShake app after the quake. The agency said the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System was activated and that officials were coordinating with local authorities to assess impacts.

As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, neither the USGS nor state officials had reported injuries or damage.

According to the USGS’ “Did You Feel It?” reporting system, nearly 4,000 people had submitted reports by 9 a.m. The agency’s intensity map showed the strongest shaking was concentrated around the Redwood Valley and Ukiah areas, while lighter shaking was reported across much of Northern California, including parts of the Sacramento Valley.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the governor had been briefed on the earthquake and that state officials were monitoring the situation.

“The Governor’s Office is closely coordinating with emergency officials and assessing potential impacts and damage,” the Governor’s Office said.

According to The Sacramento Bee’s automated earthquake bot, the area has experienced four tremors of magnitude 2.5 or above. The biggest, a 3.1 magnitude quake, was detected close to The Geysers on Saturday.

This story was originally published June 24, 2026 at 8:25 AM.