QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near King City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in King City in the 24 hours to 2:07 pm PST (22:07 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 14 km (8 mi) E, at 4:39 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near King City

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) east-northeast of King City, CA, at 4:27 am PDT on 11 June 2019 (11:27 UTC), 6.5 km deep.

USGS: 21km NE of San Lucas, CA

4:27 am PDT, Jun 11, 2019 · · 6.5 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 40 kmSan Benito County 41 kmKings County 98 kmMerced County 102 kmSan Luis Obispo County 107 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
4:27 am PDT on 11 June 2019 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) east-northeast of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
6.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 40 km W
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, under 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 2711 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In King City, 24 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 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 46 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 35 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 10 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 22 km SSW of Three Rocks, California · 33 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 11 km NNW of Coalinga, California · 42 km E 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 36.2832, -120.8770. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Monterey County, CA 40 km (25 mi) W earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 41 km (25 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Benito County
Kings County, CA 98 km (61 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kings County
Merced County, CA 102 km (64 mi) N earthquakes near Merced County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 107 km (66 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA 121 km (75 mi) ENE earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 10km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  2. 2.4 9km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 1.6 10km N of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 1.9 24km NE of King City, CA
  5. 2.1 16km SSE of New Idria, CA
  6. 1.9 10km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 1.5 17km NE of San Ardo, CA
  8. 1.6 15km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  9. 2.2 20km NW of Parkfield, CA
  10. 1.6 15km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 1.7 21km NW of Parkfield, CA
  12. 2.1 4km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 2.3 13km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 1.6 13km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  15. 1.5 20km NE of San Lucas, 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.