Earthquake near King City, CA

USGS: 2 km SE of San Ardo, California

3:00 pm PDT, Sep 19, 2016 · 2016-09-19 22:00 UTC · 9.9 km deep · released about 17 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: 3:00 pm PDT on 19 September 2016 (2016-09-19 22:00 UTC)
Where: 32 km (20 mi) SE of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
Magnitude: M 1.8 (md)
Depth: 9.9 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Monterey County, 47 km NW
Nearest mapped fault: San Andreas fault, 21 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 32 km (20 mi) SE of King City, CA, at 3:00 pm PDT on 19 September 2016 (22:00 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.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
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 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

6.5 10 km NE of San Simeon, California · 39 km SSW of this epicentre Dec 22, 2003
6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 35 km E of this epicentre Mar 3, 1901
5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 35 km NNE of this epicentre Jul 25, 1926
5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 26 km SE of this epicentre Jun 8, 1934
5.4 22 km SSW of Three Rocks, California · 49 km NE of this epicentre Oct 25, 1982

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

Epicentre 36.0028, -120.8838. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Monterey County, CA	47 km (29 mi)	NW	earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA	70 km (44 mi)	NNW	earthquakes near San Benito County
San Luis Obispo County, CA	79 km (49 mi)	SSE	earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA	96 km (60 mi)	E	earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA	139 km (86 mi)	NE	earthquakes near Fresno County
Santa Cruz County, CA	151 km (94 mi)	NW	earthquakes near Santa Cruz 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.

1.9 15 km NW of San Simeon, California 01:29 UTC
2.4 20 km NW of Parkfield, California 21:26 UTC
2.4 22 km NW of Parkfield, California 18:08 UTC
1.6 22 km ENE of San Lucas, California 17:24 UTC
1.7 22 km NE of San Lucas, California 16:44 UTC
1.6 22 km NW of Parkfield, California 18:48 UTC
2.1 23 km NE of San Lucas, California 04:00 UTC
2.2 20 km NW of Parkfield, California 13:23 UTC
1.6 9 km W of Templeton, California 01:44 UTC
1.6 9 km NNW of San Simeon, California 05:32 UTC
2.9 8 km W of Templeton, California 18:13 UTC
2.1 8 km W of Templeton, California 14:36 UTC
2.3 9 km W of Templeton, California 12:53 UTC
1.7 8 km W of Templeton, California 12:03 UTC
4.0 9 km W of Templeton, California 11:58 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 04:42 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.