QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near Coalinga, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Coalinga in the 24 hours to 9:17 am PST (17:17 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 2.0 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) north of Coalinga, CA, at 1:45 am PDT on 30 October 2019 (08:45 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 19km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA

72 km (45 mi) SW of Fresno, CA

1:45 am PDT, Oct 30, 2019 · · 18 km deep · released about 27 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 61 kmSan Benito County 68 kmFresno County 81 kmMonterey County 83 kmMerced County 98 kmSan Luis Obispo County 107 kmMadera County 112 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
1:45 am PDT on 30 October 2019 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) north of Coalinga, CA · earthquakes near Coalinga
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 61 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 3 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 2564 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, 24 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 27 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 560,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 390,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 35× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 27 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 1,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 15 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 40 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 25 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 34 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 32 km SE 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 36.3497, -120.3987. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kings County, CA 61 km (38 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kings County
San Benito County, CA 68 km (42 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Benito County
Fresno County, CA 81 km (50 mi) NE earthquakes near Fresno County
Monterey County, CA 83 km (52 mi) W earthquakes near Monterey County
Merced County, CA 98 km (61 mi) NNW earthquakes near Merced County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 107 km (66 mi) S earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 21km NW of Parkfield, CA
  2. 1.8 17km NNE of Coalinga, CA
  3. 2.2 17km NW of Parkfield, CA
  4. 1.7 7km NE of Avenal, CA
  5. 1.9 24km WSW of Coalinga, CA
  6. 2.4 1km NE of New Idria, CA
  7. 2.1 3km NE of New Idria, CA
  8. 1.8 16km NW of Parkfield, CA
  9. 1.9 5km WSW of Huron, CA
  10. 1.5 10km ESE of Coalinga, CA
  11. 1.9 15km NNE of Coalinga, CA
  12. 1.6 22km ENE of San Lucas, CA
  13. 1.8 9km NW of Parkfield, CA
  14. 2.7 12km NW of Parkfield, CA
  15. 1.7 12km NW of Parkfield, 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.