QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

8km W of San Ardo, CA

· 9.1 km deep · released about 9 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 37 kmSan Benito County 65 kmSan Luis Obispo County 87 kmKings County 106 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 1.6 (md)
Depth
9.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 37 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2481 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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.

Where

Epicentre 36.0307, -120.9900. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Monterey County, CA 37 km (23 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 65 km (40 mi) S of here earthquakes near San Benito County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 87 km (54 mi) NW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA 106 km (66 mi) W of here earthquakes near Kings County
Santa Cruz County, CA 142 km (88 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 7km NW of Parkfield, CA
  2. 1.9 13km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 2.4 18km NNE of San Simeon, CA
  4. 2.4 22km ENE of San Lucas, CA
  5. 1.7 6km W of San Ardo, CA
  6. 1.7 18km NNE of San Simeon, CA
  7. 1.7 20km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 1.6 12km S of San Lucas, CA
  9. 1.6 7km NW of Parkfield, CA
  10. 2.9 7km NW of Parkfield, CA
  11. 2.5 7km NW of Parkfield, CA
  12. 1.6 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 1.6 22km ENE of San Lucas, CA
  14. 2.4 21km NW of Parkfield, CA
  15. 1.6 19km 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.