Earthquake near Avenal, CA

A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) NNE of Avenal, CA, at 2:41 am PDT on 17 September 2016 (09:41 UTC). 8 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

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

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,800 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 8,200× the energy of this one
3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,800× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,800 lb of TNT
5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.9× 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.

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:

1. 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 28 km NW of this epicentre May 2, 1983
2. 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 37 km SSW of this epicentre Mar 10, 1922
3. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 37 km W of this epicentre Mar 3, 1901
4. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 36 km SW of this epicentre Sep 28, 2004
5. 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 12 km NNW 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

Epicentre 36.0537, -120.0905. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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.

1. 2.4 20 km NW of Parkfield, California 21:26 UTC
2. 2.4 22 km NW of Parkfield, California 18:08 UTC
3. 1.9 24 km S of Kettleman City, California 06:59 UTC
4. 1.6 3 km SSE of Avenal, California 20:20 UTC
5. 1.5 2 km SE of Avenal, California 15:00 UTC
6. 1.6 22 km NW of Parkfield, California 18:48 UTC
7. 2.2 20 km NW of Parkfield, California 13:23 UTC
8. 2.8 1 km SSE of Avenal, California 21:39 UTC
9. 1.6 2 km S of Avenal, California 20:46 UTC
10. 2.3 4 km S of Avenal, California 10:04 UTC
11. 1.6 3 km SSE of Avenal, California 14:55 UTC
12. 1.5 2 km S of Avenal, California 14:16 UTC
13. 1.6 17 km S of Three Rocks, California 13:15 UTC
14. 1.7 3 km ESE of Avenal, California 08:45 UTC
15. 1.7 3 km E of Avenal, California 07:26 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 02:54 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.