QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2md

Earthquake near Kettleman City, CA

USGS: 18 km E of Kettleman City, California

89 km (55 mi) S of Fresno, CA · 40 km (25 mi) SSW of Hanford, CA

2:34 pm PDT, Jun 18, 2016 · · 7.4 km deep · released about 54 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 12 kmFresno County 87 kmSan Luis Obispo County 91 kmTulare County 92 kmKern County 116 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
2:34 pm PDT on 18 June 2016 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) E of Kettleman City, CA · earthquakes near Kettleman City
Magnitude
M 2.2 (md)
Depth
7.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 12 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 15 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 3522 days ago

A magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) E of Kettleman City, CA, at 2:34 pm PDT on 18 June 2016 (21:34 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Corcoran, Stratford, Alpaugh.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 54 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 280,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 18× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 54 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 40 km WNW of this epicentre

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 35.9817, -119.7542. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kings County, CA 12 km (7 mi) NNW earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA 87 km (54 mi) N earthquakes near Fresno County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 91 km (57 mi) SW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Tulare County, CA 92 km (57 mi) ENE earthquakes near Tulare County
Kern County, CA 116 km (72 mi) SE earthquakes near Kern County
San Benito County, CA 138 km (86 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 Central California
  2. 1.6 3 km ESE of Avenal, California
  3. 2.8 2 km SSE of Avenal, California
  4. 1.6 2 km ESE of Avenal, California
  5. 1.6 9 km S of Huron, California
  6. 1.9 9km W of Pixley, CA
  7. 1.8 6 km NNW of Avenal, California
  8. 2.0 22 km NNW of Lost Hills, California
  9. 2.0 4km NNW of Delano, CA
  10. 1.8 12 km SSE of Huron, CA
  11. 2.0 11 km NE of Kettleman City, California
  12. 1.7 5 km SSE of Kettleman City, California
  13. 1.8 16 km SSW of Kettleman City, California
  14. 1.9 6 km E of Kettleman City, California
  15. 2.6 1 km W of Huron, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.