Earthquake near Avenal, CA

A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) S of Avenal, CA, at 2:04 am PST on 11 December 2016 (10:04 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 98 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 150,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 9.8× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 98 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:

1. 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 34 km NNW of this epicentre May 2, 1983
2. 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 26 km SSW of this epicentre Mar 10, 1922
3. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 33 km W of this epicentre Mar 3, 1901
4. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 27 km SW of this epicentre Sep 28, 2004
5. 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 50 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

Epicentre 35.9658, -120.1338. 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. 1.5 14 km SSE of Avenal, California 16:12 UTC
2. 1.5 14 km SSE of Avenal, California 16:11 UTC
3. 1.7 15 km SSE of Avenal, California 16:00 UTC
4. 2.8 15 km SSE of Avenal, California 15:51 UTC
5. 1.9 15 km SSW of Kettleman City, California 15:30 UTC
6. 2.2 15 km SSE of Avenal, California 15:16 UTC
7. 1.8 16km SSE of Avenal, CA 12:52 UTC
8. 1.8 Central California 07:22 UTC
9. 1.8 15 km SSE of Avenal, California 05:13 UTC
10. 1.6 12 km E of Coalinga, California 16:06 UTC
11. 1.6 6 km NNE of Avenal, California 17:50 UTC
12. 1.8 8 km NE of Avenal, California 17:46 UTC
13. 1.5 10 km NE of Avenal, California 17:45 UTC
14. 1.8 9 km NNE of Coalinga, California 06:18 UTC
15. 1.6 7 km SE of Parkfield, California 09:53 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.