QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

23 km SSW of Los Banos, California

· 2.2 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 31 kmMerced County 42 kmSanta Clara County 73 kmStanislaus County 76 kmMonterey County 77 kmSanta Cruz County 92 kmMadera County 116 kmAlameda County 118 kmFresno County 119 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
2.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 31 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3497 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 5.7 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 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 36.8798, -120.9868. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Benito County, CA 31 km (19 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Merced County, CA 42 km (26 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Merced County
Santa Clara County, CA 73 km (45 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Stanislaus County, CA 76 km (47 mi) S of here earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Monterey County, CA 77 km (48 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
Santa Cruz County, CA 92 km (57 mi) E of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz 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. 1.9 23 km ENE of Soledad, California
  2. 1.6 17 km SSE of Tres Pinos, California
  3. 1.7 31 km ENE of Soledad, California
  4. 2.5 24 km NE of Greenfield, California
  5. 2.4 21 km NE of Soledad, California
  6. 2.4 32 km NE of Soledad, California
  7. 1.8 19 km ENE of Tres Pinos, California
  8. 2.1 18 km SSE of Tres Pinos, California
  9. 2.6 21 km NE of Soledad, California
  10. 1.7 21 km NE of Soledad, California
  11. 2.3 Central California
  12. 2.4 4 km ENE of Tres Pinos, California
  13. 2.0 21 km NE of Soledad, California
  14. 1.8 25 km W of Three Rocks, California
  15. 1.9 3 km SW of South Dos Palos, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.2 on 2016-07-19 — it released about 11,000 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

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