Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near King City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in King City in the 24 hours to 10:19 am PST (18:19 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 14 km (8 mi) E, at 4:39 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near King City
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) northeast of King City, CA, at 2:35 am PST on 13 December 2018 (10:35 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 23km NE of King City, CA
- When
- 2:35 am PST on 13 December 2018 ()
- Where
- 22 km (14 mi) northeast of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 0.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 32 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, under 1 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 2887 days ago
Earthquake alerts for King City, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near King City, CA. No account or email needed.
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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In King City, 22 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: Greenfield.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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 4.6 on 2017-11-13 — about 25,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 35 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 45 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 16 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 49 km NW 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 36.3495, -120.9415. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 32 km (20 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 36 km (22 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 96 km (60 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Kings County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 12km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.0 10km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 19km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 2.1 11km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.5 16km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.5 21km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 2.4 15km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 5km WSW of San Ardo, CA
- 1.7 16km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 2km NE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 10km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.3 19km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 2.0 2km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 15km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 10km NNW of Pinnacles, 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.