QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

12km S of Point Sur, CA

· 16 km deep · released about 51 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 52 kmSan Benito County 86 kmSanta Cruz County 91 kmSanta Clara County 115 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 2.1 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 52 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2763 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 51 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 51 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.

Where

Epicentre 36.1975, -121.8938. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Monterey County, CA 52 km (32 mi) W of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 86 km (53 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Santa Cruz County, CA 91 km (57 mi) S of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Santa Clara County, CA 115 km (72 mi) S of here earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Merced County, CA 152 km (95 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Merced County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 19km ESE of Point Sur, CA
  2. 2.2 22km ESE of Point Sur, CA
  3. 2.0 11km N of Point Sur, CA
  4. 1.8 7km SSW of Gonzales, CA
  5. 1.5 24km N of Lopez Point, CA
  6. 2.8 22km NNW of Lopez Point, CA
  7. 1.5 1km S of Monterey, CA
  8. 1.7 1km SSW of Monterey, CA
  9. 1.9 13km ESE of Point Sur, CA
  10. 1.6 23km E of Point Sur, CA
  11. 2.4 13km NNW of Point Sur, CA
  12. 1.6 10km NNW of Lopez Point, CA
  13. 1.8 2km NNW of Lopez Point, CA
  14. 2.5 16km NNW of Lopez Point, CA
  15. 2.1 14km NNW of Lopez Point, 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.