Sinkhole risk in Tehama County, CA: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock: 1%
At or near the surface: 1%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Tehama County

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 29 of Tehama County's 2,949 square miles on soluble rock, 29 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 64,451 residents (22 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 289 map points about 3.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Tehama County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Emery County, UT, about 618 miles east. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Glenn County, CA 37 mi south · 0% at surface
Shasta County, CA 45 mi north · 9% at surface
Butte County, CA 46 mi southeast · under 1% at surface
Trinity County, CA 59 mi northwest · 25% at surface
Colusa County, CA 66 mi south · 0% at surface
Plumas County, CA 75 mi east · 0% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Paleozoic marine rocks, undivided, unit 9 (Western Klamath Mountains) (argillite), Devonian to Jurassic in age, covering about 1% of the county.

Against the rest of California

Tehama County ranks 18 of 58 in California for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 55% of US counties on that measure.