Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8md
Earthquake near Los Banos, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Los Banos in the 24 hours to 4:28 am PST (12:28 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 36 km (22 mi) WNW, at 9:18 pm PDT on 21 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Los Banos
This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) south-southwest of Los Banos, CA, at 1:12 pm PDT on 30 October 2019 (20:12 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 23km SSW of Los Banos, CA
88 km (55 mi) ESE of San Jose, CA · 57 km (35 mi) ESE of Gilroy, CA
- When
- 1:12 pm PDT on 30 October 2019 ()
- Where
- 23 km (14 mi) south-southwest of Los Banos, CA · earthquakes near Los Banos
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (md)
- Depth
- 0.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 31 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Ortigalita fault, 1 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 1557 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Los Banos, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Los Banos, CA. No account or email needed.
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 26 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Los Banos, 23 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: Los Banos 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 430 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 35,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 25,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.2× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.8 about 430 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 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — about 810 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 27 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 34 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 43 km W of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 36 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 3 km ENE of Tres Pinos, California · 29 km WSW 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 36.8725, -120.9705. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 31 km (19 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Merced County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 75 km (46 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 77 km (48 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| Monterey County, CA | 77 km (48 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 16km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.2 17km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 13km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 2km SSE of Ridgemark, CA
- 2.2 3km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 3.0 16km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 15km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 15km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.5 11km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.4 5km SW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.1 7km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 14km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.2 3km WSW of Ridgemark, CA
- 2.0 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 2km E of Pinnacles, 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.