QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

17 km SE of Shandon, California

· 13 km deep · released about 6.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Luis Obispo County 25 kmKings County 71 kmSanta Barbara County 113 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 1.6 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Luis Obispo County, 25 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3370 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 6.4 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 2,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 35.5412, -120.2483. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Luis Obispo County, CA 25 km (15 mi) NE of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA 71 km (44 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Kings County
Santa Barbara County, CA 113 km (70 mi) N of here earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Monterey County, CA 124 km (77 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 141 km (88 mi) SSE 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

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

  1. 1.6 18km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  2. 1.9 4km ESE of Atascadero, CA
  3. 1.9 27km S of Kettleman City, CA
  4. 1.5 3km NE of Cholame, CA
  5. 2.4 2 km NW of Parkfield, California
  6. 2.7 2 km WNW of Parkfield, California
  7. 1.6 6 km E of Atascadero, California
  8. 2.5 25 km S of Kettleman City, California
  9. 2.2 25 km NW of Lost Hills, California
  10. 1.7 12km ESE of Simmler, CA
  11. 2.0 10 km S of Kettleman City, California
  12. 1.6 6 km SE of Parkfield, California
  13. 1.7 4 km NW of Parkfield, California
  14. 1.8 7 km E of Atascadero, California
  15. 1.6 6 km E of Atascadero, 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.