Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9md
Earthquake near Stratford, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Stratford in the 24 hours to 4:19 am PST (12:19 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 8 km (5 mi) SW, at 7:37 am PDT on 6 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Stratford
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) south of Stratford, CA, at 8:26 pm PST on 27 February 2020 (04:26 UTC), 15 km deep.
USGS: 10km S of Stratford, CA
76 km (47 mi) S of Fresno, CA · 28 km (18 mi) SSW of Hanford, CA
- When
- 8:26 pm PST on 27 February 2020 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) south of Stratford, CA · earthquakes near Stratford
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (md)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 3 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 15 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 2449 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Stratford, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Stratford, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Stratford, 10 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: Kettleman City, Lemoore Station, Corcoran, Lemoore, Armona, Home Garden.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 21 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 1,400 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 32 km W of this epicentre
- 5.5 11 km NNE of Coalinga, California · 46 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 11 km NE of Coalinga, California · 45 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.3 4 km NNE of Coalinga, California · 49 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 36.1020, -119.8045. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 3 km (2 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 74 km (46 mi) | N | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Tulare County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | E | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| San Benito County, CA | 128 km (80 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Kern County, CA | 128 km (80 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kern 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.
- 1.7 16km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 3.0 17km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.3 7km SSW of Riverdale, CA
- 1.8 11km NNE of Avenal, CA
- 2.5 15km SSW of Kettleman City, CA
- 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
- 1.9 11km NNE of Coalinga, 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
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.