Earthquake near Templeton, CA

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 30 km (19 mi) from the epicentre. In Templeton, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Paso Robles 13 km, intensity III · Cayucos 15 km, intensity III · Atascadero 15 km, intensity II · Cambria 24 km, intensity II · Los Osos 28 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2019-12-17 — about 140 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.5 10 km NE of San Simeon, California · 30 km WNW of this epicentre Dec 22, 2003
2. 6.2 28km NW of Cambria, CA · 50 km WNW of this epicentre Nov 22, 1952
3. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 50 km NE of this epicentre Sep 28, 2004
4. 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 35 km NNE of this epicentre Jun 8, 1934
5. 5.7 Southwest of Cambria, California · 36 km W of this epicentre Dec 7, 1906

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 35.5588, -120.8140. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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 14:35 UTC
2. 2.4 16km WNW of Lake Nacimiento, CA 08:45 UTC
3. 1.5 13km WSW of Lake Nacimiento, CA 06:06 UTC
4. 2.3 14km NNW of San Simeon, CA 02:00 UTC
5. 2.1 12km ENE of Cambria, CA 12:06 UTC
6. 1.5 11km NNE of Cayucos, CA 19:23 UTC
7. 1.5 11km NNE of Cambria, CA 19:40 UTC
8. 2.2 6km SSE of Parkfield, CA 12:31 UTC
9. 1.5 10km W of Templeton, CA 23:46 UTC
10. 2.4 16km W of Avila Beach, CA 19:33 UTC
11. 1.8 6km NNE of Santa Margarita, CA 17:22 UTC
12. 1.8 19km NNE of San Simeon, CA 19:45 UTC
13. 1.5 15km N of Cayucos, CA 00:43 UTC
14. 1.6 7km SW of Templeton, CA 19:41 UTC
15. 2.1 2km NNE of Morro Bay, CA 04:06 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 13:24 UTC. 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.