QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

39 km WNW of San Simeon, California

· 16 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 61 kmSan Benito County 107 kmSan Luis Obispo County 112 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 2.0 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 61 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
San Gregorio fault, 18 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 2.0 earthquake was recorded 39 km WNW of San Simeon, California at 23:59 UTC on 2016-09-03. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.5 10 km NE of San Simeon, California · 46 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 28km NW of Cambria, CA · 25 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 Southwest of Cambria, California · 46 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 25 km NW of San Simeon, California · 25 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 22 km NW of San Simeon, California · 26 km ENE 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 35.7455, -121.6083. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Monterey County, CA 61 km (38 mi) NNE earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 107 km (67 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Benito County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 112 km (70 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 29 km SSE of Big Sur, California
  2. 2.0 27 km SSE of Big Sur, California
  3. 1.7 15 km N of San Simeon, California
  4. 1.9 23 km SE of Big Sur, California
  5. 2.0 14km NE of San Simeon, CA
  6. 1.7 18 km SW of San Simeon, California
  7. 1.6 9 km ENE of San Simeon, California
  8. 1.7 7 km ENE of San Simeon, California
  9. 1.7 18 km ESE of Big Sur, California
  10. 1.6 11 km SW of Oak Shores, California
  11. 2.0 26 km WSW of Lockwood, California
  12. 2.0 34 km W of San Simeon, California
  13. 1.8 38 km NW of San Simeon, California
  14. 1.8 21 km NW of San Simeon, California
  15. 2.4 21 km NW 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

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