Earthquake near Avenal, CA

USGS: 11 km NNW of Avenal, California

85 km (53 mi) SSW of Fresno, CA · 55 km (34 mi) WSW of Hanford, CA

8:10 am PDT, Sep 14, 2016 · 2016-09-14 15:10 UTC · 11 km deep · released about 5.6 lb of TNT

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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: 8:10 am PDT on 14 September 2016 (2016-09-14 15:10 UTC)
Where: 11 km (7 mi) NNW of Avenal, CA · earthquakes near Avenal
Magnitude: M 1.5 (md)
Depth: 11 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Kings County, 34 km E
Nearest mapped fault: Great Valley thrust fault system, 7 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3521 days ago · we first saw it 3521 days ago

A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) NNW of Avenal, CA, at 8:10 am PDT on 14 September 2016 (15:10 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Huron, Coalinga, Kettleman City.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 19 km NNW of this epicentre May 2, 1983
6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 38 km S of this epicentre Mar 10, 1922
6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 29 km WSW of this epicentre Mar 3, 1901
6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 34 km SSW of this epicentre Sep 28, 2004
5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 7 km NNE of this epicentre Aug 4, 1985

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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Kings County, CA	34 km (21 mi)	E	earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA	81 km (50 mi)	SSW	earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA	89 km (55 mi)	NNE	earthquakes near Fresno County
San Benito County, CA	99 km (61 mi)	NW	earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA	102 km (63 mi)	W	earthquakes near Monterey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

2.2 20 km NW of Parkfield, California 13:23 UTC
2.8 1 km SSE of Avenal, California 21:39 UTC
1.6 2 km S of Avenal, California 20:46 UTC
2.3 4 km S of Avenal, California 10:04 UTC
1.6 3 km SSE of Avenal, California 14:55 UTC
1.5 2 km S of Avenal, California 14:16 UTC
1.6 17 km S of Three Rocks, California 13:15 UTC
1.7 3 km ESE of Avenal, California 08:45 UTC
1.7 3 km E of Avenal, California 07:26 UTC
1.5 3 km E of Avenal, California 07:11 UTC
2.1 4 km E of Avenal, California 06:48 UTC
2.3 2 km SSE of Avenal, California 06:47 UTC
1.7 Central California 04:50 UTC
1.6 3 km ESE of Avenal, California 04:49 UTC
2.8 2 km SSE of Avenal, California 03:17 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 03:27 UTC. 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.