Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9ml
Earthquake near Coalinga, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Coalinga in the 24 hours to 12:55 am PST (08:55 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 1:44 am PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Coalinga
This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 33 km (21 mi) north-northeast of Coalinga, CA, at 5:30 pm PST on 24 January 2019 (01:30 UTC), 6.9 km deep. 9 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 10km SSE of Cantua Creek, CA
58 km (36 mi) SW of Fresno, CA · 56 km (35 mi) WNW of Hanford, CA
- When
- 5:30 pm PST on 24 January 2019 ()
- Where
- 33 km (21 mi) north-northeast of Coalinga, CA · earthquakes near Coalinga
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 9 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Kings County, 56 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 11 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 2772 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Coalinga, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 31 km (19 mi) from the epicentre. In Coalinga, 33 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.
Likely felt in: Huron 29 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 23,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
- 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.0 on 2018-11-27 — about 46 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 22 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 31 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 48 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 33 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.5 11 km NNE of Coalinga, California · 22 km S 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 36.4277, -120.2637. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 56 km (35 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| San Benito County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Merced County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Monterey County, CA | 97 km (60 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Madera County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Madera County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 27km NNW of New Idria, CA
- 2.0 20km S of Cantua Creek, CA
- 1.8 11km ENE of Coalinga, CA
- 2.4 19km S of Cantua Creek, CA
- 2.2 20km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
- 1.9 20km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
- 2.5 20km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
- 2.3 8km W of New Idria, CA
- 1.6 16km NW of Coalinga, CA
- 1.6 16km NNW of Coalinga, CA
- 3.1 4km NNW of Cantua Creek, CA
- 1.7 11km N of Avenal, CA
- 1.6 12km SSW of Huron, CA
- 2.0 8km NW of Cantua Creek, CA
- 2.0 19km S of New Idria, 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.