QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Los Banos, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Los Banos in the 24 hours to 7:17 am PST (15:17 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 36 km (22 mi) WNW, at 9:18 pm PDT on 21 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Los Banos

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 46 km (28 mi) south of Los Banos, CA, at 6:26 pm PDT on 25 March 2019 (01:26 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 26km ENE of Pinnacles, CA

6:26 pm PDT, Mar 25, 2019 · · 0.4 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Los Banos Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 18 kmMonterey County 59 kmMerced County 62 kmSanta Clara County 96 kmStanislaus County 102 kmSanta Cruz County 108 kmFresno County 111 kmKings County 115 kmMadera County 119 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
6:26 pm PDT on 25 March 2019 ()
Where
46 km (28 mi) south of Los Banos, CA · earthquakes near Los Banos
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
0.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 18 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Ortigalita fault, 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 2788 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 Los Banos, 46 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 4.6 on 2017-11-13 — about 19,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 31 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 31 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 32 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 40 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 37 km W 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 36.6497, -120.8877. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 18 km (11 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 59 km (37 mi) SW earthquakes near Monterey County
Merced County, CA 62 km (39 mi) NNE earthquakes near Merced County
Santa Clara County, CA 96 km (59 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Stanislaus County, CA 102 km (63 mi) N earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Santa Cruz County, CA 108 km (67 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 17km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  2. 1.9 3km E of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 1.8 6km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 1.6 20km E of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 1.8 15km S of Tres Pinos, CA
  6. 1.7 23km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 2.0 8km NW of Cantua Creek, CA
  8. 2.0 19km S of New Idria, CA
  9. 2.4 11km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 1.7 16km SE of New Idria, CA
  11. 2.0 20km SW of New Idria, CA
  12. 2.7 15km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
  13. 1.6 12km S of Tres Pinos, CA
  14. 2.2 15km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
  15. 1.7 4km NNE 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

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