Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near King City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in King City in the 24 hours to 7:29 am PST (15:29 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 3.0 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) southwest of King City, CA, at 2:36 am PDT on 16 September 2019 (09:36 UTC), 12 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 19km SE of Lopez Point, CA
90 km (56 mi) SSE of Salinas, CA
- When
- 2:36 am PDT on 16 September 2019 ()
- Where
- 42 km (26 mi) southwest of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- 4 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Monterey County, 38 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Gregorio fault, 7 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 2534 days ago
Earthquake alerts for King City, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 33 km (21 mi) from the epicentre. In King City, 42 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 830 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 410,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 13,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 830 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 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 10 km NE of San Simeon, California · 36 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.2 28km NW of Cambria, CA · 21 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.7 Southwest of Cambria, California · 49 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.2 26km NNW of Lake Nacimiento, CA · 39 km E of this epicentre
- 5.2 25 km NW of San Simeon, California · 9 km SSE 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 35.9062, -121.4035. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | 38 km (24 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 83 km (52 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 104 km (64 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 28km S of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.6 12km NE of San Simeon, CA
- 1.6 23km E of Point Sur, CA
- 2.2 31km S of Lopez Point, CA
- 2.5 33km S of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.5 13km NNE of Cambria, CA
- 2.7 14km ENE of San Simeon, CA
- 1.9 31km S of Lopez Point, CA
- 2.3 19km SE of Lopez Point, CA
- 2.1 4km SW of San Ardo, CA
- 1.6 9km NNE of Cambria, CA
- 1.6 10km NNW of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.8 2km NNW of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.7 15km NE of San Simeon, CA
- 2.5 16km NNW of Lopez Point, 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
- 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.