QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

4 km NW of Parkfield, California

· 4.9 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Luis Obispo County 60 kmKings County 61 kmMonterey County 84 kmSan Benito County 94 kmFresno County 118 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 1.7 (md)
Depth
4.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Luis Obispo County, 60 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3238 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 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 35.9252, -120.4717. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Luis Obispo County, CA 60 km (37 mi) N of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA 61 km (38 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Kings County
Monterey County, CA 84 km (52 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 94 km (58 mi) SE of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Fresno County, CA 118 km (73 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Fresno 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. 1.9 5km S of Huron, CA
  2. 1.8 8km W of San Ardo, CA
  3. 2.6 7km NNW of Avenal, CA
  4. 1.6 5km NNE of Avenal, CA
  5. 1.6 8km NNE of Avenal, CA
  6. 2.3 23km NW of Parkfield, CA
  7. 1.5 2km SE of San Ardo, CA
  8. 1.6 9km NNE of Avenal, CA
  9. 2.9 6km NNE of Avenal, CA
  10. 1.6 8km NNW of Avenal, CA
  11. 2.8 7km NNW of Avenal, CA
  12. 1.8 17km S of New Idria, CA
  13. 1.6 11km SW of Huron, CA
  14. 3.1 12km E of Coalinga, CA
  15. 1.9 7km NNW of Kettleman City, CA

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.