Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Kettleman City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Kettleman City in the 24 hours to 4:01 am PST (12:01 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 13 km (8 mi) S, at 5:43 pm PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Kettleman City
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Kettleman City, CA, at 8:41 pm PST on 6 March 2019 (04:41 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 7km ENE of Kettleman City, CA
84 km (52 mi) S of Fresno, CA · 39 km (24 mi) SSW of Hanford, CA
- When
- 8:41 pm PST on 6 March 2019 ()
- Where
- 7 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Kettleman City, CA · earthquakes near Kettleman City
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 8 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 4 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 2806 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Kettleman City, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Kettleman 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Kettleman City, 7 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: Kettleman City 7 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 1,800 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 44 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 45 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 27 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 45 km SW 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 36.0320, -119.8915. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 8 km (5 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 88 km (54 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Tulare County, CA | 102 km (63 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| San Benito County, CA | 125 km (78 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Kern County, CA | 130 km (81 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 11km NW of Avenal, CA
- 2.0 10km NW of Avenal, CA
- 2.4 11km NW of Avenal, CA
- 1.5 6km W of Avenal, CA
- 2.7 6km W of Avenal, CA
- 1.6 8km NE of Coalinga, CA
- 1.7 3km NE of Coalinga, CA
- 2.6 11km E of Coalinga, CA
- 1.8 5km W of Avenal, CA
- 3.1 6km W of Avenal, CA
- 3.1 9km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 1.9 7km NW of Huron, CA
- 1.5 10km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 1.7 9km ENE of Coalinga, CA
- 2.4 14km NE of Coalinga, 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.