QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Lemoore Station, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Lemoore Station in the 24 hours to 9:01 pm PST (05:01 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 16 km (10 mi) SW, at 2:35 am PDT on 16 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Lemoore Station

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) west-northwest of Lemoore Station, CA, at 2:56 am PST on 20 February 2020 (10:56 UTC), 21 km deep.

USGS: 8km WNW of Lemoore Station, CA

57 km (35 mi) SSW of Fresno, CA · 30 km (19 mi) W of Hanford, CA

2:56 am PST, Feb 20, 2020 · · 21 km deep · released about 23 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 29 kmFresno County 60 kmMadera County 104 kmSan Benito County 104 kmTulare County 109 kmSan Luis Obispo County 109 kmMonterey County 119 kmMerced 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
2:56 am PST on 20 February 2020 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) west-northwest of Lemoore Station, CA · earthquakes near Lemoore Station
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
21 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 29 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 19 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 2457 days ago

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 Lemoore Station, 8 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: Huron, Lemoore, Stratford, Riverdale, Armona.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 23 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 660,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 470,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 42× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 23 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 1,300 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 30 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 22 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 11 km NNE of Coalinga, California · 28 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 11 km NE of Coalinga, California · 27 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 22 km SSW of Three Rocks, California · 46 km W 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 36.2940, -119.9907. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kings County, CA 29 km (18 mi) SSE earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA 60 km (37 mi) NNE earthquakes near Fresno County
Madera County, CA 104 km (65 mi) NNE earthquakes near Madera County
San Benito County, CA 104 km (65 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Benito County
Tulare County, CA 109 km (68 mi) E earthquakes near Tulare County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 109 km (68 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 18km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
  2. 2.1 8km NNW of Kettleman City, CA
  3. 3.0 18km S of Cantua Creek, CA
  4. 2.3 19km E of Kettleman City, CA
  5. 2.0 7km WSW of Kettleman City, CA
  6. 1.8 8km SE of Huron, CA
  7. 1.6 8km NNW of Avenal, CA
  8. 1.8 17km NNW of Coalinga, CA
  9. 1.8 21km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
  10. 1.8 5km NE of Coalinga, CA
  11. 1.8 16km S of Kettleman City, CA
  12. 1.7 16km S of Kettleman City, CA
  13. 1.8 12km S of Stratford, CA
  14. 2.2 14km ENE of Kettleman City, CA
  15. 2.2 14km 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

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