Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.2ml
Earthquake near King City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in King City in the 24 hours to 1:01 pm PST (21:01 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 3.2 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) east-northeast of King City, CA, at 9:27 am PST on 12 February 2019 (17:27 UTC), 11 km deep. 11 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 20km SW of New Idria, CA
- When
- 9:27 am PST on 12 February 2019 ()
- Where
- 27 km (17 mi) east-northeast of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
- Magnitude
- M 3.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 11 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 42 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 3 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 2752 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 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 43 km (27 mi) from the epicentre. In King City, 27 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: King City 27 km, intensity II · Greenfield 36 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,700 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 200,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,100× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,500× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,700 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× 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.
For this area
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 48 km E of this epicentre
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 45 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 31 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 6 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 11 km NNE of Coalinga, California · 50 km E 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 36.2935, -120.8382. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 43 km (27 mi) | W | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Kings County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Merced County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | N | earthquakes near Merced County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
43 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 10km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 18km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.9 21km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 11km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 3.0 5km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 8km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 3km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 10km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 26km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.2 12km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 5km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 8km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 14km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 22km ENE of San Ardo, CA
- 2.1 10km N 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.