QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

10km W of Templeton, CA

· 5.2 km deep · released about 590 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Luis Obispo County 38 kmMonterey County 88 kmKings County 107 kmSan Benito County 120 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 2.9 (md)
Depth
5.2 km below the surface
Felt
11 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
San Luis Obispo County, 38 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2360 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 11 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 590 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 26,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 590 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 35.5588, -120.8140. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Luis Obispo County, CA 38 km (24 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Monterey County, CA 88 km (55 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
Kings County, CA 107 km (66 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Kings County
San Benito County, CA 120 km (74 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Santa Barbara County, CA 134 km (83 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Santa Barbara County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 14km N of Cayucos, CA
  2. 2.4 16km WNW of Lake Nacimiento, CA
  3. 1.5 13km WSW of Lake Nacimiento, CA
  4. 2.3 14km NNW of San Simeon, CA
  5. 2.1 12km ENE of Cambria, CA
  6. 1.5 11km NNE of Cayucos, CA
  7. 1.5 11km NNE of Cambria, CA
  8. 2.2 6km SSE of Parkfield, CA
  9. 1.5 10km W of Templeton, CA
  10. 2.4 16km W of Avila Beach, CA
  11. 1.8 6km NNE of Santa Margarita, CA
  12. 1.8 19km NNE of San Simeon, CA
  13. 1.5 15km N of Cayucos, CA
  14. 1.6 7km SW of Templeton, CA
  15. 2.1 2km NNE of Morro Bay, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.3 on 2019-12-17 — it released about 140 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

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