QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Los Banos, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Los Banos in the 24 hours to 3:54 am PST (11:54 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 36 km (22 mi) WNW, at 9:18 pm PDT on 21 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Los Banos

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 28 km (17 mi) west-northwest of Los Banos, CA, at 11:56 am PDT on 10 September 2017 (18:56 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: Northern California

62 km (38 mi) ESE of San Jose, CA · 41 km (26 mi) ENE of Gilroy, CA

11:56 am PDT, Sep 10, 2017 · · 12 km deep · released about 7.1 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Los Banos Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Merced County 38 kmSanta Clara County 49 kmStanislaus County 50 kmSan Benito County 58 kmSanta Cruz County 77 kmAlameda County 89 kmSan Joaquin County 90 kmMonterey County 100 kmSan Mateo 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
11:56 am PDT on 10 September 2017 ()
Where
28 km (17 mi) west-northwest of Los Banos, CA · earthquakes near Los Banos
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Merced County, 38 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Ortigalita fault, 2 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 3348 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Los Banos, 28 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Gustine, Newman.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.0 on 2017-03-31 — about 4,300 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 43 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 45 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 32 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 45 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 3 km ENE of Tres Pinos, California · 38 km SSW 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 37.1305, -121.1490. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Merced County, CA 38 km (24 mi) E earthquakes near Merced County
Santa Clara County, CA 49 km (30 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Stanislaus County, CA 50 km (31 mi) NNE earthquakes near Stanislaus County
San Benito County, CA 58 km (36 mi) S earthquakes near San Benito County
Santa Cruz County, CA 77 km (48 mi) W earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Alameda County, CA 89 km (55 mi) NW earthquakes near Alameda County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 5 km SW of Gilroy, California
  2. 2.4 5 km SW of Gilroy, California
  3. 2.4 7 km WSW of Gilroy, California
  4. 2.2 8 km ENE of San Martin, California
  5. 1.8 7 km SE of Tres Pinos, California
  6. 2.7 8 km ENE of San Martin, California
  7. 2.3 5 km SW of Gilroy, California
  8. 1.6 3 km E of Aromas, California
  9. 2.3 2 km SSW of Hollister, California
  10. 2.1 2 km E of Aromas, California
  11. 1.6 12 km NNE of Hollister, California
  12. 1.7 2 km E of Aromas, California
  13. 2.3 2 km SSW of San Juan Bautista, California
  14. 2.0 8 km ENE of San Martin, California
  15. 3.4 8 km ENE of San Martin, 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.