QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

10 km NE of San Simeon, California

· 6.2 km deep · released about 46 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 62 kmSan Luis Obispo County 69 kmSan Benito 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
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
6.2 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity I
Nearest
Monterey County, 62 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
San Simeon fault, 11 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3500 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 46 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 330,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 21× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 46 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 35.7073, -121.0978. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Monterey County, CA 62 km (39 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 69 km (43 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
San Benito County, CA 101 km (62 mi) S of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Kings County, CA 122 km (76 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Kings County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 11 km NNE of Cayucos, California
  2. 1.6 2 km SE of San Ardo, California
  3. 1.8 6 km WSW of San Ardo, California
  4. 1.9 7 km WSW of Templeton, CA
  5. 2.5 7 km W of San Ardo, California
  6. 1.7 12 km N of San Simeon, California
  7. 1.6 9 km NNE of Lockwood, California
  8. 2.2 11 km S of Cambria, California
  9. 1.7 15 km N of San Simeon, California
  10. 1.6 6 km NW of Bradley, California
  11. 2.0 14km NE of San Simeon, CA
  12. 1.7 18 km SW of San Simeon, California
  13. 1.6 9 km ENE of San Simeon, California
  14. 1.7 7 km ENE of San Simeon, California
  15. 1.5 9km WSW of Atascadero, CA

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.