QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

0km NW of Pismo Beach, CA

· 5.0 km deep · released about 40 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Luis Obispo County 32 kmSanta Barbara County 88 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 2.1 (md)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
San Luis Obispo County, 32 km NNE
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. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 40 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 380,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 270,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 24× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 40 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 35.1457, -120.6458. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Luis Obispo County, CA 32 km (20 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Santa Barbara County, CA 88 km (54 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Kings County, CA 127 km (79 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Kings 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 27km W of Guadalupe, CA
  2. 2.2 36km WSW of Guadalupe, CA
  3. 2.1 32km WSW of Guadalupe, CA
  4. 1.9 6km NE of San Luis Obispo, CA
  5. 2.5 8km W of Templeton, CA
  6. 1.8 6km W of Santa Margarita, CA
  7. 1.6 2km NNW of Cayucos, CA
  8. 2.0 23km NNE of Nipomo, CA
  9. 1.7 12km NNE of Cayucos, CA
  10. 1.5 4km E of Avila Beach, CA
  11. 1.7 6km E of Atascadero, CA
  12. 1.6 11km W of Templeton, CA
  13. 1.6 11km W of Templeton, CA
  14. 1.6 11km W of Templeton, CA
  15. 1.7 11km NNE of Cayucos, 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.