QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

6 km NW of Avenal, California

· 15 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 33 kmSan Luis Obispo County 76 kmFresno County 93 kmSan Benito County 103 kmMonterey County 104 km
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
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 33 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3526 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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.

Where

Epicentre 36.0395, -120.1845. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Kings County, CA 33 km (21 mi) W of here earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 76 km (47 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA 93 km (58 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Fresno County
San Benito County, CA 103 km (64 mi) SE of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 104 km (65 mi) ESE of here 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.

  1. 2.5 12 km NW of Avenal, California
  2. 2.8 12 km NW of Avenal, California
  3. 1.6 12 km NW of Avenal, California
  4. 1.5 12 km NW of Avenal, California
  5. 1.5 12 km ESE of Coalinga, California
  6. 1.6 12 km SW of Huron, California
  7. 2.6 12 km NW of Avenal, California
  8. 3.3 13 km NW of Avenal, California
  9. 1.5 13 km SSW of Kettleman City, California
  10. 2.3 15 km SSE of Avenal, California
  11. 1.9 15 km SSE of Avenal, California
  12. 1.8 Central California
  13. 1.9 15 km SSE of Avenal, California
  14. 1.8 15 km SSE of Avenal, California
  15. 1.8 15 km SSE of Avenal, California

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.