Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.6md
Earthquake near Alpaugh, CA
USGS: 19 km W of Alpaugh, California
41 km (25 mi) WNW of Delano, CA · 102 km (64 mi) S of Fresno, CA
- When
- 4:20 am PDT on 14 May 2016 ()
- Where
- 19 km (12 mi) W of Alpaugh, CA · earthquakes near Alpaugh
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (md)
- Depth
- 18 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 25 km NNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3522 days ago
A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) W of Alpaugh, CA, at 4:20 am PDT on 14 May 2016 (11:20 UTC). This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Lost Hills, Kettleman City, Corcoran.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 250 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 61,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 43,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.8× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 250 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.9 on 2016-02-24 — about 2,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 35.8668, -119.6985. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 25 km (16 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 86 km (54 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Tulare County, CA | 92 km (57 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Fresno County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | N | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Kern County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
40 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.8 2 km SSE of Avenal, California
- 1.6 2 km ESE of Avenal, California
- 1.6 9 km S of Huron, California
- 1.9 9km W of Pixley, CA
- 1.8 6 km NNW of Avenal, California
- 2.0 22 km NNW of Lost Hills, California
- 2.0 4km NNW of Delano, CA
- 1.8 12 km SSE of Huron, CA
- 2.0 11 km NE of Kettleman City, California
- 1.7 5 km SSE of Kettleman City, California
- 1.8 16 km SSW of Kettleman City, California
- 1.9 6 km E of Kettleman City, California
- 1.9 5 km SSE of Huron, California
- 1.7 9 km SSW of Huron, California
- 2.4 6 km S of Matheny, California
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.