QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

38 km NW of San Simeon, California

· 7.0 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 44 kmSan Benito County 90 kmSan Luis Obispo County 110 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 1.8 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 44 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3426 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 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 870,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 620,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 55× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 35.8748, -121.5042. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Monterey County, CA 44 km (27 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 90 km (56 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near San Benito County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 110 km (68 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 14km ENE of San Simeon, CA
  2. 2.0 27km NNW of San Simeon, CA
  3. 1.7 8km NNE of Cambria, CA
  4. 1.5 14km W of Lake Nacimiento, CA
  5. 1.8 14km NE of San Simeon, CA
  6. 2.2 15km W of Lake Nacimiento, CA
  7. 1.6 8km ENE of San Simeon, CA
  8. 2.0 12km NE of San Simeon, CA
  9. 2.3 14km NW of San Simeon, CA
  10. 2.9 16 km NNW of San Simeon, California
  11. 2.5 9 km SW of Oak Shores, California
  12. 2.0 11 km SE of Big Sur, California
  13. 1.7 8 km SW of Oak Shores, California
  14. 1.7 27 km SE of Big Sur, California
  15. 1.6 42 km W of Lockwood, 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.