QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

Earthquake near Kettleman City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Kettleman City in the 24 hours to 5:06 am PST (13:06 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 13 km (8 mi) S, at 5:43 pm PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Kettleman City

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) east-southeast of Kettleman City, CA, at 11:26 pm PDT on 1 October 2019 (06:26 UTC), 20 km deep.

USGS: 21km ESE of Kettleman City, CA

93 km (58 mi) S of Fresno, CA · 43 km (27 mi) S of Hanford, CA

11:26 pm PDT, Oct 1, 2019 · · 20 km deep · released about 1,000 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 15 kmSan Luis Obispo County 89 kmFresno County 91 kmTulare County 92 kmKern County 114 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
11:26 pm PDT on 1 October 2019 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) east-southeast of Kettleman City, CA · earthquakes near Kettleman City
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 15 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 17 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 2512 days ago

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 32 km (20 mi) from the epicentre. In Kettleman City, 21 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: Kettleman City 21 km, intensity II · Corcoran 23 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,000 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.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 330,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 15,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 10,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,000 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 30 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 43 km WNW 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 35.9490, -119.7438. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kings County, CA 15 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 89 km (55 mi) SW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA 91 km (56 mi) N earthquakes near Fresno County
Tulare County, CA 92 km (57 mi) ENE earthquakes near Tulare County
Kern County, CA 114 km (71 mi) SE earthquakes near Kern County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 11km SW of Huron, CA
  2. 1.9 13km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
  3. 2.1 7km ESE of Huron, CA
  4. 1.7 11km WSW of Huron, CA
  5. 1.8 12km SW of Huron, CA
  6. 1.9 10km S of Stratford, CA
  7. 1.5 4km SSE of Avenal, CA
  8. 1.9 8km WNW of Lemoore Station, CA
  9. 2.4 4km NW of Armona, CA
  10. 2.0 15km E of Kettleman City, CA
  11. 1.8 9km W of Delano, CA
  12. 1.8 8km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
  13. 2.1 8km WSW of Huron, CA
  14. 2.1 8km SW of Huron, CA
  15. 1.8 7km SSE of Huron, 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.