QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

16km WNW of San Simeon, CA

· 5.8 km deep · released about 44 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 57 kmSan Luis Obispo County 89 kmSan Benito County 101 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
5.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 57 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2728 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 44 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 5.8 340,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 240,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 44 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 35.7245, -121.3418. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Monterey County, CA 57 km (36 mi) S of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 89 km (55 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
San Benito County, CA 101 km (63 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 12km SSW of San Simeon, CA
  2. 1.6 8km ENE of San Simeon, CA
  3. 2.1 19km S of Lopez Point, CA
  4. 1.5 10km NNE of Cambria, CA
  5. 1.6 11km ENE of San Simeon, CA
  6. 3.0 19km SE of Lopez Point, CA
  7. 1.9 23km NW of San Simeon, CA
  8. 1.6 7km SE of Lopez Point, CA
  9. 2.0 11km NE of San Simeon, CA
  10. 1.9 6km SE of Lopez Point, CA
  11. 1.7 25km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
  12. 1.9 13km NE of San Simeon, CA
  13. 2.1 6km W of San Ardo, CA
  14. 1.7 23km NNW of San Simeon, CA
  15. 2.5 13km W of Templeton, 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.