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 2:21 pm PST (22:21 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 24 km (15 mi) east-northeast of King City, CA, at 7:44 am PDT on 9 April 2018 (14:44 UTC), 6.9 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 22km NNE of San Lucas, CA
- When
- 7:44 am PDT on 9 April 2018 ()
- Where
- 24 km (15 mi) east-northeast of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (md)
- Depth
- 6.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 39 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, under 1 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 1558 days ago
Earthquake alerts for King City, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near King City, CA. No account or email needed.
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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In King City, 24 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 20 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 5.8 760,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 540,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 48× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 20 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 4.6 on 2017-11-13 — about 11,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 48 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 34 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 10 km E of this epicentre
- 5.4 22 km SSW of Three Rocks, California · 34 km E of this epicentre
- 5.4 11 km NNW of Coalinga, California · 43 km E 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 36.2983, -120.8818. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | W | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Kings County, CA | 99 km (61 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Merced County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | N | earthquakes near Merced County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 121 km (75 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 2km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 3km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.4 2km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.3 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.4 21km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.8 14km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 3km SE of San Ardo, CA
- 1.8 6km SW of San Ardo, CA
- 2.4 15km WSW of Cantua Creek, CA
- 1.7 9km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 16km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 16km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.4 2km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 21km NW of Parkfield, 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.