Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1md
Earthquake near Coalinga, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Coalinga in the 24 hours to 3:16 am PST (11:16 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 1:44 am PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Coalinga
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) north of Coalinga, CA, at 1:38 pm PDT on 29 August 2017 (20:38 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 18 km N of Coalinga, California
72 km (45 mi) SW of Fresno, CA
- When
- 1:38 pm PDT on 29 August 2017 ()
- Where
- 18 km (11 mi) north of Coalinga, CA · earthquakes near Coalinga
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (md)
- Depth
- 0.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 54 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 3 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 3360 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Coalinga, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Coalinga, 18 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Huron.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 330,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 21× the energy of this one
- 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.
For this area
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 9 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 37 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 32 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 38 km W of this epicentre
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 25 km SE of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 36.3048, -120.3428. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 54 km (34 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Benito County, CA | 75 km (46 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Fresno County, CA | 80 km (50 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Monterey County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | W | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 102 km (64 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Merced County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Merced County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 23 km ENE of San Lucas, California
- 1.8 20 km S of Cantua Creek, California
- 1.7 23 km NNE of San Lucas, California
- 1.7 18 km N of Coalinga, California
- 1.8 7 km SSW of Huron, California
- 1.5 4 km ENE of Coalinga, California
- 2.5 22 km NW of Parkfield, California
- 2.1 22 km ENE of San Ardo, California
- 2.6 22 km ENE of San Ardo, California
- 1.7 4 km NW of Parkfield, California
- 2.4 4 km WNW of Kettleman City, California
- 1.9 23 km ENE of San Lucas, California
- 1.8 11 km E of Coalinga, California
- 1.9 4 km SSE of Cantua Creek, California
- 2.0 6 km S of Cantua Creek, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.