Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9md
Earthquake near King City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in King City in the 24 hours to 1:45 pm PST (21:45 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 14 km (8 mi) E, at 4:39 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near King City
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 45 km (28 mi) south-southwest of King City, CA, at 9:25 pm PDT on 8 April 2018 (04:25 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 25km NNW of San Simeon, CA
98 km (61 mi) SSE of Salinas, CA
- When
- 9:25 pm PDT on 8 April 2018 ()
- Where
- 45 km (28 mi) south-southwest of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Monterey County, 44 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Gregorio fault, 7 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 3130 days ago
Earthquake alerts for King City, 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In King City, 45 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 24 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 640,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 450,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 40× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 24 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 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 10 km NE of San Simeon, California · 25 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.2 28km NW of Cambria, CA · 13 km S of this epicentre
- 5.7 Southwest of Cambria, California · 40 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.2 26km NNW of Lake Nacimiento, CA · 34 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.2 25 km NW of San Simeon, California · 3 km WSW 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 35.8417, -121.3220. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | 44 km (28 mi) | N | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 88 km (55 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 94 km (58 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 17km N of San Simeon, CA
- 1.6 10km E of San Simeon, CA
- 1.9 10km W of San Simeon, CA
- 1.9 8km WSW of San Ardo, CA
- 1.6 12km NNE of Cambria, CA
- 1.5 13km NE of San Simeon, CA
- 1.8 3km SSE of San Ardo, CA
- 1.9 3km SSE of San Ardo, CA
- 2.2 3km SE of San Ardo, CA
- 1.9 3km SSE of San Ardo, CA
- 2.2 10km NE of San Simeon, CA
- 1.6 10km ENE of San Simeon, CA
- 1.6 16km S of Lake Nacimiento, CA
- 1.9 3km SSE of San Ardo, CA
- 1.7 3km SSE of San Ardo, 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
- 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.