QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Cambria, CA

USGS: 20 km NW of San Simeon, California

3:10 am PDT, Aug 2, 2016 · · 5.9 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cambria Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 51 kmSan Luis Obispo County 92 kmSan Benito County 95 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
3:10 am PDT on 2 August 2016 ()
Where
34 km (21 mi) NW of Cambria, CA · earthquakes near Cambria
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
5.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 51 km N
Nearest mapped fault
San Gregorio 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 3521 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 34 km (21 mi) NW of Cambria, CA, at 3:10 am PDT on 2 August 2016 (10:10 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 10 km NE of San Simeon, California · 24 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 28km NW of Cambria, CA · 7 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 Southwest of Cambria, California · 34 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 26km NNW of Lake Nacimiento, CA · 39 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 25 km NW of San Simeon, California · 6 km N 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 35.7807, -121.3462. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Monterey County, CA 51 km (32 mi) N earthquakes near Monterey County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 92 km (57 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
San Benito County, CA 95 km (59 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 11 km N of Cayucos, California
  2. 1.7 2 km SE of San Ardo, California
  3. 1.5 2 km ESE of San Ardo, California
  4. 3.1 11 km WSW of Oak Shores, California
  5. 2.3 10 km WSW of Oak Shores, California
  6. 1.6 10 km ENE of San Simeon, California
  7. 1.9 15 km NW of San Simeon, California
  8. 1.5 33 km W of San Simeon, California
  9. 1.6 9 km NNW of San Simeon, California
  10. 2.2 35 km WSW of Lockwood, California
  11. 2.1 18 km SE of Big Sur, California
  12. 2.6 13 km SSW of Lockwood, California
  13. 1.6 7 km ENE of San Simeon, California
  14. 1.6 6 km W of San Ardo, California
  15. 2.0 37 km S of Big Sur, 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.