QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

14km NE of San Simeon, CA

· 7.1 km deep · released about 650 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 60 kmSan Luis Obispo County 69 kmSan Benito County 98 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 2.9 (md)
Depth
7.1 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Monterey County, 60 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2921 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 650 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 23,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 650 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 35.7297, -121.0847. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Monterey County, CA 60 km (38 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 69 km (43 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
San Benito County, CA 98 km (61 mi) S of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Kings County, CA 120 km (75 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Kings County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 15km NE of San Simeon, CA
  2. 1.6 12km NNE of Cayucos, CA
  3. 2.2 22km SE of Lopez Point, CA
  4. 2.7 8km ENE of San Simeon, CA
  5. 1.8 24km NNW of San Simeon, CA
  6. 1.5 3km SSE of San Ardo, CA
  7. 1.5 5km NNE of San Ardo, CA
  8. 1.6 4km WSW of San Ardo, CA
  9. 2.2 8km ENE of San Simeon, CA
  10. 1.5 8km WNW of Templeton, CA
  11. 2.0 13km WSW of Lake Nacimiento, CA
  12. 2.0 11km WSW of Templeton, CA
  13. 1.9 11km NNE of San Simeon, CA
  14. 2.7 22km SSW of San Simeon, CA
  15. 1.5 15km W of Lake Nacimiento, 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.