QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

20km NNW of Simmler, CA

· 11 km deep · released about 9.6 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Luis Obispo County 36 kmKings County 66 kmSanta Barbara County 109 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
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Luis Obispo County, 36 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3063 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 9.6 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 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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 35.5198, -120.0802. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Luis Obispo County, CA 36 km (23 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA 66 km (41 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Kings County
Santa Barbara County, CA 109 km (68 mi) N of here earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Monterey County, CA 137 km (85 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
Tulare County, CA 141 km (88 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Tulare County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.5 4km SSE of Parkfield, CA
  2. 1.6 7km E of Atascadero, CA
  3. 1.6 10km NNW of Cholame, CA
  4. 2.2 2km NE of Cholame, CA
  5. 1.7 6km NNE of Santa Margarita, CA
  6. 2.9 10km NNW of Cholame, CA
  7. 1.9 16km S of Kettleman City, CA
  8. 1.5 15km SE of Shandon, CA
  9. 1.9 30km E of Cholame, CA
  10. 1.8 24km SE of Kettleman City, CA
  11. 1.8 23km SE of Kettleman City, CA
  12. 1.9 10km N of Simmler, CA
  13. 2.0 21km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  14. 1.9 21km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  15. 2.6 21km SSE 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.