Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Avenal, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Avenal in the 24 hours to 4:51 am PST (12:51 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 7 km (4 mi) NW, at 12:34 am PDT on 18 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Avenal
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) south of Avenal, CA, at 2:43 am PST on 1 December 2018 (10:43 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 19km ENE of Cholame, CA
- When
- 2:43 am PST on 1 December 2018 ()
- Where
- 24 km (15 mi) south of Avenal, CA · earthquakes near Avenal
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 41 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 16 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2901 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Avenal, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Avenal, 24 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Kettleman City, Shandon.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 100× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.3 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.0 on 2018-11-27 — about 3,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 14 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 43 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 24 km W of this epicentre
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 40 km N of this epicentre
- 5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 17 km W of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 35.7857, -120.1030. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 41 km (26 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 54 km (34 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Monterey County, CA | 120 km (75 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 127 km (79 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Tulare County, CA | 129 km (80 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 7km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.5 10km SW of Huron, CA
- 1.7 11km WSW of Huron, CA
- 2.0 18km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.6 11km ENE of Coalinga, CA
- 1.8 7km ENE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.8 6km NNE of Coalinga, CA
- 2.9 10km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 1.9 16km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.7 9km N of Avenal, CA
- 1.5 15km SE of Shandon, CA
- 1.9 30km E of Cholame, CA
- 1.8 24km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.6 18km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.9 10km WSW 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.