QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

6km W of San Ardo, CA

· 9.1 km deep · released about 46 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 40 kmSan Benito County 67 kmSan Luis Obispo County 84 kmKings County 104 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
9.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 40 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2594 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 46 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 5.8 330,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 21× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 46 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 36.0203, -120.9680. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Monterey County, CA 40 km (25 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 67 km (41 mi) S of here earthquakes near San Benito County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 84 km (52 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA 104 km (64 mi) W of here earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA 144 km (89 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Fresno County
Santa Cruz County, CA 144 km (90 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 21km NE of San Lucas, CA
  2. 1.6 22km WSW of New Idria, CA
  3. 1.6 19km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 2.3 15km NW of Parkfield, CA
  5. 1.8 21km NW of Parkfield, CA
  6. 1.9 19km NW of Parkfield, CA
  7. 1.8 16km NW of Parkfield, CA
  8. 1.7 16km NW of Parkfield, CA
  9. 2.3 14km NE of San Simeon, CA
  10. 2.1 17km NNE of San Simeon, CA
  11. 1.6 22km NE of San Ardo, CA
  12. 1.9 16km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 1.6 18km S of New Idria, CA
  14. 2.4 22km NE of San Lucas, CA
  15. 1.7 22km 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.