QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

24km WNW of San Simeon, CA

· 6.8 km deep · released about 1,600 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 55 kmSan Luis Obispo County 97 kmSan Benito County 100 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 3.1 (ml)
Depth
6.8 km below the surface
Felt
10 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Monterey County, 55 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2444 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 10 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,600 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,600 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× more

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 35.7572, -121.4212. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Monterey County, CA 55 km (34 mi) S of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 97 km (60 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
San Benito County, CA 100 km (62 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 5km NNW of San Simeon, CA
  2. 2.4 16km WNW of Lake Nacimiento, CA
  3. 1.5 13km WSW of Lake Nacimiento, CA
  4. 1.9 9km WSW of San Ardo, CA
  5. 2.3 14km NNW of San Simeon, CA
  6. 2.1 12km ENE of Cambria, CA
  7. 1.5 11km NNE of Cambria, CA
  8. 1.8 19km NNE of San Simeon, CA
  9. 2.0 28km S of Lopez Point, CA
  10. 1.6 12km NE of San Simeon, CA
  11. 2.2 31km S of Lopez Point, CA
  12. 2.5 33km S of Lopez Point, CA
  13. 1.5 13km NNE of Cambria, CA
  14. 2.7 14km ENE of San Simeon, CA
  15. 1.9 31km S 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.