QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Home Garden, CA

USGS: 2 km W of Home Garden, California

in Hanford, CA · 54 km (34 mi) SSE of Fresno, CA

12:35 am PST, Feb 21, 2017 · · 3.1 km deep · released about 150 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 29 kmFresno County 51 kmTulare County 80 kmMadera County 101 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
12:35 am PST on 21 February 2017 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) W of Home Garden, CA · earthquakes near Home Garden
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
3.1 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Kings County, 29 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3509 days ago

A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) W of Home Garden, CA, at 12:35 am PST on 21 February 2017 (08:35 UTC). 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Hanford, Armona, Lucerne, Lemoore, Laton, Stratford.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 150 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 72,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 150 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 one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 47 km WSW of this epicentre

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 36.3068, -119.6675. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kings County, CA 29 km (18 mi) SSW earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA 51 km (31 mi) N earthquakes near Fresno County
Tulare County, CA 80 km (50 mi) E earthquakes near Tulare County
Madera County, CA 101 km (63 mi) N earthquakes near Madera County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 124 km (77 mi) SW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kern County, CA 136 km (85 mi) SE earthquakes near Kern County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

13 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 10 km SSW of Huron, California
  2. 2.2 7 km SE of Huron, California
  3. 2.6 9 km S of Huron, California
  4. 3.1 9 km SSE of Huron, California
  5. 1.7 9 km NNE of Avenal, California
  6. 1.9 19 km SW of Corcoran, California
  7. 1.6 6 km NNE of Avenal, California
  8. 1.8 8 km NE of Avenal, California
  9. 1.5 10 km NE of Avenal, California
  10. 1.7 4 km W of Huron, California
  11. 1.7 9 km S of Huron, California
  12. 1.5 9 km SSW of Huron, California
  13. 2.2 13 km E of Kettleman City, 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.