QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

10km NNW of Cholame, CA

· 6.3 km deep · released about 51 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Luis Obispo County 47 kmKings County 57 kmMonterey County 100 kmSan Benito County 112 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 2.1 (md)
Depth
6.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Luis Obispo County, 47 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3041 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 51 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 51 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 35.7997, -120.3483. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Luis Obispo County, CA 47 km (29 mi) N of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA 57 km (35 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Kings County
Monterey County, CA 100 km (62 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 112 km (70 mi) SE of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Fresno County, CA 124 km (77 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Fresno 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. 1.5 19km NW of Parkfield, CA
  2. 1.7 4km NNW of Cholame, CA
  3. 1.7 10km WSW of Huron, CA
  4. 2.1 5km WNW of Kettleman City, CA
  5. 2.8 3km NW of Kettleman City, CA
  6. 1.8 2km SSW of Huron, CA
  7. 1.6 7km E of Atascadero, CA
  8. 3.5 1km W of Parkfield, CA
  9. 1.8 14km NE of Coalinga, CA
  10. 1.8 8km ENE of Coalinga, CA
  11. 1.7 6km W of Templeton, CA
  12. 1.5 7km SSE of Coalinga, CA
  13. 1.9 7km NE of Coalinga, CA
  14. 1.9 7km NE of Coalinga, CA
  15. 1.6 11km SW of Huron, 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.