QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

16 km SSE of Avenal, California

· 15 km deep · released about 5.9 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 30 kmSan Luis Obispo County 65 kmFresno 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, 30 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3463 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 5.9 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 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 35.8768, -120.0455. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Kings County, CA 30 km (19 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 65 km (41 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA 104 km (65 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Fresno County
Tulare County, CA 120 km (75 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Tulare County
Monterey County, CA 121 km (75 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 124 km (77 mi) SE of here earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 15 km SSW of Kettleman City, California
  2. 1.9 8 km NNE of Huron, California
  3. 1.7 15 km NW of Parkfield, California
  4. 1.6 5 km NW of Parkfield, California
  5. 1.6 9 km ENE of Coalinga, California
  6. 2.7 8 km ENE of Coalinga, California
  7. 1.7 8 km ENE of Coalinga, California
  8. 1.6 8 km ENE of Coalinga, California
  9. 1.7 Central California
  10. 1.6 12 km ENE of Coalinga, California
  11. 2.1 10 km NW of Avenal, California
  12. 1.7 25 km WNW of Lost Hills, California
  13. 1.5 21 km SSE of Avenal, California
  14. 2.5 16 km S of Kettleman City, California
  15. 2.1 15 km S 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.