QuakeIndex

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 11:48 pm PST (07:48 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 6 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Kettleman City, CA, at 1:15 pm PDT on 12 May 2019 (20:15 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 6km ENE of Kettleman City, CA

85 km (53 mi) S of Fresno, CA · 40 km (25 mi) SSW of Hanford, CA

1:15 pm PDT, May 12, 2019 · · 10 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Kettleman City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 9 kmFresno County 85 kmSan Luis Obispo County 86 kmTulare County 103 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
1:15 pm PDT on 12 May 2019 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Kettleman City, CA · earthquakes near Kettleman City
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 9 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 3 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 2739 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Kettleman City, 6 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 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 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 5.8 970,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 61× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 1,900 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. 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 43 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 44 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 48 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 26 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 44 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 36.0245, -119.9022. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kings County, CA 9 km (6 mi) NE earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA 85 km (53 mi) NNE earthquakes near Fresno County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 86 km (54 mi) SW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Tulare County, CA 103 km (64 mi) ENE earthquakes near Tulare County
San Benito County, CA 125 km (77 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

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

  1. 1.8 8km SSW of Kettleman City, CA
  2. 3.0 21km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
  3. 1.7 8km SSW of Kettleman City, CA
  4. 1.6 6km N of Avenal, CA
  5. 1.6 6km SSW of Kettleman City, CA
  6. 1.7 8km SSW of Kettleman City, CA
  7. 1.5 11km SW of Kettleman City, CA
  8. 3.1 10km NW of Avenal, CA
  9. 2.0 14km NNE of Coalinga, CA
  10. 1.6 11km NW of Avenal, CA
  11. 1.6 11km NW of Avenal, CA
  12. 2.4 12km WNW of Avenal, CA
  13. 2.6 9km NW of Avenal, CA
  14. 2.0 4km NNW of Huron, CA
  15. 2.5 2km SW of Hanford, 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.