Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0md
Earthquake near Kettleman City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Kettleman City in the 24 hours to 3:28 am PST (11:28 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 13 km (8 mi) S, at 5:43 pm PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Kettleman City
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) east of Kettleman City, CA, at 3:55 pm PST on 29 January 2020 (23:55 UTC), 21 km deep.
USGS: 15km E of Kettleman City, CA
83 km (52 mi) S of Fresno, CA · 35 km (22 mi) SSW of Hanford, CA
- When
- 3:55 pm PST on 29 January 2020 ()
- Where
- 15 km (9 mi) east of Kettleman City, CA · earthquakes near Kettleman City
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (md)
- Depth
- 21 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 5 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 12 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2477 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Kettleman City, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Kettleman City, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Kettleman City, 15 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Stratford, Corcoran, Lemoore Station, Lemoore.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 32 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 470,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 330,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 30× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 32 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 4.0 on 2018-11-27 — about 930 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 34 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 11 km NNE of Coalinga, California · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 11 km NE of Coalinga, California · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 4 km NE of Coalinga, California · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
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 36.0335, -119.7968. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 5 km (3 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | N | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Tulare County, CA | 94 km (58 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Kern County, CA | 123 km (76 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| San Benito County, CA | 132 km (82 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 22km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.7 16km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.7 7km ESE of Huron, CA
- 2.5 17km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.5 18km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.1 8km NNW of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.3 19km E of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.8 13km SW of Alpaugh, CA
- 2.0 7km WSW of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.8 8km SE of Huron, CA
- 1.6 8km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.8 5km NE of Coalinga, CA
- 1.8 16km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.7 16km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.8 12km S of Stratford, 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
- 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.