QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.0mw

9km NW of Avenal, CA

· 11 km deep · released about 15 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 33 kmSan Luis Obispo County 80 kmFresno County 90 kmSan Benito County 100 kmMonterey County 103 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 4.0 (mw)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
63 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity V (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Nearest
Kings County, 33 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2787 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon. 63 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.0 about 15 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 32× more

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 36.0735, -120.1882. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Kings County, CA 33 km (21 mi) W of here earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 80 km (50 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA 90 km (56 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Fresno County
San Benito County, CA 100 km (62 mi) SE of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 103 km (64 mi) E of here earthquakes near Monterey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 21km NW of Parkfield, CA
  2. 1.7 9km N of Avenal, CA
  3. 1.9 30km E of Cholame, CA
  4. 1.8 24km SE of Kettleman City, CA
  5. 1.6 18km NW of Parkfield, CA
  6. 1.9 10km WSW of Huron, CA
  7. 1.6 5km NW of Parkfield, CA
  8. 1.8 23km SE of Kettleman City, CA
  9. 2.0 21km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  10. 1.9 21km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  11. 2.6 21km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  12. 1.8 12km ENE of Coalinga, CA
  13. 2.9 12km ENE of Coalinga, CA
  14. 1.9 21km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  15. 1.7 23km 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.