QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

5km SSE of Avenal, CA

· 26 km deep · released about 37 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 30 kmSan Luis Obispo County 70 kmFresno County 98 kmMonterey County 112 kmSan Benito County 113 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
26 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 30 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2991 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 37 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 5.8 410,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 290,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 26× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 37 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 35.9607, -120.1152. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Kings County, CA 30 km (18 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 70 km (44 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA 98 km (61 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Fresno County
Monterey County, CA 112 km (70 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 113 km (70 mi) SE of here earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 2km NE of Avenal, CA
  2. 1.5 2km WSW of Avenal, CA
  3. 2.3 1km ESE of Avenal, CA
  4. 1.7 3km NE of Avenal, CA
  5. 1.9 23km NW of Parkfield, CA
  6. 2.0 8km S of Kettleman City, CA
  7. 3.0 24km ENE of San Ardo, CA
  8. 3.3 24km ENE of San Ardo, CA
  9. 1.7 8km ENE of Coalinga, CA
  10. 2.0 25km NW of Parkfield, CA
  11. 1.6 18km NW of Coalinga, CA
  12. 1.5 23km S of Kettleman City, CA
  13. 1.8 12km SE of Huron, CA
  14. 1.9 7km W of Kettleman City, CA
  15. 2.1 14km 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.