QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Coalinga, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Coalinga in the 24 hours to 4:19 am PST (12:19 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) west of Coalinga, CA, at 8:48 pm PDT on 19 March 2019 (03:48 UTC), 2.2 km deep.

USGS: 22km ENE of San Ardo, CA

8:48 pm PDT, Mar 19, 2019 · · 2.2 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Coalinga Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 59 kmSan Benito County 68 kmKings County 78 kmSan Luis Obispo County 81 kmFresno County 118 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
8:48 pm PDT on 19 March 2019 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) west of Coalinga, CA · earthquakes near Coalinga
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
2.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 59 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 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 2793 days ago

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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Coalinga, 29 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 2,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 37 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 20 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 46 km N of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 42 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 24 km NNW 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 36.0958, -120.6827. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Monterey County, CA 59 km (37 mi) WNW earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 68 km (42 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Benito County
Kings County, CA 78 km (48 mi) E earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 81 km (51 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA 118 km (73 mi) NE earthquakes near Fresno County
Santa Cruz County, CA 156 km (97 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 20km S of Cantua Creek, CA
  2. 1.8 11km ENE of Coalinga, CA
  3. 2.4 19km S of Cantua Creek, CA
  4. 1.6 22km NNE of San Simeon, CA
  5. 1.5 21km NE of San Lucas, CA
  6. 2.2 20km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
  7. 1.9 20km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
  8. 2.5 20km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
  9. 2.3 8km W of New Idria, CA
  10. 1.6 16km NW of Coalinga, CA
  11. 2.1 22km NE of San Lucas, CA
  12. 1.6 16km NNW of Coalinga, CA
  13. 1.7 23km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 1.6 12km SSW of Huron, CA
  15. 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.