Earthquake near Paso Robles, CA

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 Paso Robles, 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: Paso Robles 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 6.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 48 km ENE of this epicentre Mar 10, 1922
2. 6.5 10 km NE of San Simeon, California · 33 km WNW of this epicentre Dec 22, 2003
3. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 49 km NNE of this epicentre Mar 3, 1901
4. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 42 km ENE of this epicentre Sep 28, 2004
5. 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 27 km NNE of this epicentre Jun 8, 1934

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 35.6117, -120.7532. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 2.0 21km NW of Parkfield, CA 10:13 UTC
2. 1.7 5km W of Paso Robles, CA 00:16 UTC
3. 2.2 17km NW of Parkfield, CA 19:22 UTC
4. 1.5 12km NNE of San Simeon, CA 12:36 UTC
5. 4.3 11km NNW of Cholame, CA 18:29 UTC
6. 1.8 16km NW of Parkfield, CA 08:48 UTC
7. 1.8 9km NW of Parkfield, CA 12:25 UTC
8. 2.7 12km NW of Parkfield, CA 15:14 UTC
9. 1.7 12km NW of Parkfield, CA 02:26 UTC
10. 2.1 11km N of Cambria, CA 01:42 UTC
11. 1.8 10km WSW of Templeton, CA 18:59 UTC
12. 1.7 7km E of Atascadero, CA 17:44 UTC
13. 2.3 15km NW of Parkfield, CA 14:20 UTC
14. 1.8 21km NW of Parkfield, CA 05:19 UTC
15. 1.9 19km NW of Parkfield, CA 09:55 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 12:40 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

• The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
• Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
• ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

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