QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

23km NNE of San Ardo, CA

· 5.3 km deep · released about 1,400 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 48 kmSan Benito County 54 kmKings County 88 kmSan Luis Obispo County 95 kmMerced County 111 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 3.1 (ml)
Depth
5.3 km below the surface
Felt
14 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Monterey County, 48 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2995 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 14 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,400 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 240,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,400 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.5× more

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 36.1972, -120.7790. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Monterey County, CA 48 km (30 mi) E of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 54 km (33 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Kings County, CA 88 km (54 mi) W of here earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 95 km (59 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Merced County, CA 111 km (69 mi) S of here earthquakes near Merced County
Fresno County, CA 118 km (74 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 6km E of Pinnacles, CA
  2. 1.9 15km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 1.9 23km WSW of New Idria, CA
  4. 2.1 18km SW of New Idria, CA
  5. 1.5 6km SW of San Ardo, CA
  6. 1.7 12km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 2.1 8km WNW of New Idria, CA
  8. 1.6 9km E of Coalinga, CA
  9. 2.6 7km NE of Coalinga, CA
  10. 2.4 21km NW of Parkfield, CA
  11. 1.8 14km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 2.1 3km SE of San Ardo, CA
  13. 1.8 6km SW of San Ardo, CA
  14. 2.4 15km WSW of Cantua Creek, CA
  15. 1.6 16km SE of Pinnacles, 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.