QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

13 km W of Cayucos, California

· 4.8 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Luis Obispo County 53 kmMonterey County 93 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
4.8 km below the surface
Felt
11 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
San Luis Obispo County, 53 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Hosgri fault, under 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1566 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 11 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 270,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.3× more

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.

Where

Epicentre 35.4360, -121.0362. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Luis Obispo County, CA 53 km (33 mi) W of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Monterey County, CA 93 km (58 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
Kings County, CA 131 km (81 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Kings County
Santa Barbara County, CA 135 km (84 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Santa Barbara County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.7 8 km W of Templeton, California
  2. 4.0 9 km W of Templeton, California
  3. 1.5 5 km E of Santa Margarita, California
  4. 2.6 13 km SSW of Lockwood, California
  5. 1.6 6 km E of Atascadero, California
  6. 1.6 7 km ENE of San Simeon, California
  7. 1.5 10 km NE of Cayucos, California
  8. 1.8 6 km WSW of Templeton, California
  9. 1.9 11 km NNE of Cayucos, California
  10. 1.6 7 km ENE of San Simeon, California
  11. 2.6 4 km S of San Simeon, California
  12. 1.5 12 km NE of San Simeon, California
  13. 1.8 11 km NNE of Cayucos, California
  14. 1.6 7 km NE of San Simeon, California
  15. 1.8 21 km WSW of San Simeon, 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

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