QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

6km SSW of San Ardo, CA

· 10.0 km deep · released about 6.2 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 45 kmSan Benito County 72 kmSan Luis Obispo County 79 kmKings County 102 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 1.5 (md)
Depth
10.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 45 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3021 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 6.2 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 35.9743, -120.9410. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Monterey County, CA 45 km (28 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 72 km (45 mi) S of here earthquakes near San Benito County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 79 km (49 mi) NW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA 102 km (63 mi) W of here earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA 145 km (90 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Fresno County
Santa Cruz County, CA 150 km (93 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 17km NNE of San Simeon, CA
  2. 1.9 6km WSW of San Ardo, CA
  3. 1.6 12km NE of San Simeon, CA
  4. 1.5 5km WNW of San Ardo, CA
  5. 1.5 6km ENE of San Ardo, CA
  6. 2.4 8km SW of San Lucas, CA
  7. 2.0 22km WSW of New Idria, CA
  8. 1.7 14km ENE of San Simeon, CA
  9. 1.7 22km NE of San Lucas, CA
  10. 1.7 12km WSW of San Ardo, CA
  11. 1.5 19km NW of Parkfield, CA
  12. 2.3 9km W of San Simeon, CA
  13. 2.0 3km W of San Ardo, CA
  14. 2.6 21km SW of New Idria, CA
  15. 2.3 12km SSW of New Idria, 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.