Earthquake near Coalinga, CA

USGS: 1 km WNW of Parkfield, California

3:37 pm PDT, Oct 2, 2016 · 2016-10-02 22:37 UTC · 5.7 km deep · released about 1,000 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Coalinga Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 3:37 pm PDT on 2 October 2016 (2016-10-02 22:37 UTC)
Where: 27 km (17 mi) SSW of Coalinga, CA · earthquakes near Coalinga
Magnitude: M 3.0 (ml)
Depth: 5.7 km below the surface
Felt: 10 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest: San Luis Obispo County, 57 km S
Nearest mapped fault: San Andreas 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 3521 days ago · we first saw it 3521 days ago

A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) SSW of Coalinga, CA, at 3:37 pm PDT on 2 October 2016 (22:37 UTC). 10 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: San Miguel, Shandon.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,000 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 330,000× the energy of this one
Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 15,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 10,000× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,000 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 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 38 km NNE of this epicentre May 2, 1983
6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 25 km SE of this epicentre Mar 10, 1922
6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 12 km NNW of this epicentre Mar 3, 1901
6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 12 km SE of this epicentre Sep 28, 2004
5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 20 km WSW of this epicentre Jun 8, 1934

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 35.9045, -120.4508. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
San Luis Obispo County, CA	57 km (36 mi)	S	earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA	60 km (37 mi)	ENE	earthquakes near Kings County
Monterey County, CA	86 km (54 mi)	WNW	earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA	97 km (60 mi)	NW	earthquakes near San Benito County
Fresno County, CA	119 km (74 mi)	NE	earthquakes near Fresno 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.

1.6 3 km SSE of Avenal, California 20:20 UTC
1.5 2 km SE of Avenal, California 15:00 UTC
1.6 22 km NW of Parkfield, California 18:48 UTC
2.2 20 km NW of Parkfield, California 13:23 UTC
2.9 8 km W of Templeton, California 18:13 UTC
2.1 8 km W of Templeton, California 14:36 UTC
1.7 8 km W of Templeton, California 12:03 UTC
4.0 9 km W of Templeton, California 11:58 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

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 03:31 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.