QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Coalinga, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Coalinga in the 24 hours to 5:45 am PST (13:45 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 1:44 am PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Coalinga

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) northeast of Coalinga, CA, at 10:40 pm PDT on 1 August 2019 (05:40 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 3km NE of Coalinga, CA

84 km (52 mi) SW of Fresno, CA

10:40 pm PDT, Aug 1, 2019 · · 16 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 48 kmSan Benito County 84 kmSan Luis Obispo County 87 kmMonterey County 89 kmFresno County 90 kmMerced County 120 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
10:40 pm PDT on 1 August 2019 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) northeast of Coalinga, CA · earthquakes near Coalinga
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 48 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 13 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 2655 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Coalinga, 4 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Huron, Avenal.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 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 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 2,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 8 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 47 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 24 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 44 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 38 km S 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 36.1632, -120.3333. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kings County, CA 48 km (30 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kings County
San Benito County, CA 84 km (52 mi) NW earthquakes near San Benito County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 87 km (54 mi) S earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Monterey County, CA 89 km (55 mi) W earthquakes near Monterey County
Fresno County, CA 90 km (56 mi) NE earthquakes near Fresno County
Merced County, CA 120 km (74 mi) NNW earthquakes near Merced County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 10km SW of Stratford, CA
  2. 1.6 22km NE of San Ardo, CA
  3. 1.6 18km S of New Idria, CA
  4. 2.4 22km NE of San Lucas, CA
  5. 1.8 2km NE of New Idria, CA
  6. 2.1 2km NE of New Idria, CA
  7. 2.0 19km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
  8. 1.7 22km NE of San Lucas, CA
  9. 2.1 23km NW of Parkfield, CA
  10. 1.7 21km NE of San Ardo, CA
  11. 1.9 23km NE of San Lucas, CA
  12. 1.8 7km NE of Coalinga, CA
  13. 1.9 5km ESE of Huron, CA
  14. 1.7 12km ENE of Coalinga, CA
  15. 1.6 11km NW of Avenal, 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.