QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

4km SW of San Ardo, CA

· 6.6 km deep · released about 40 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 43 kmSan Benito County 69 kmSan Luis Obispo County 81 kmKings County 101 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 2.1 (md)
Depth
6.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 43 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2368 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 40 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 380,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 270,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 24× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 40 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 35.9993, -120.9347. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Monterey County, CA 43 km (27 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 69 km (43 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near San Benito County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 81 km (50 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA 101 km (63 mi) W of here earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA 142 km (89 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Fresno County
Santa Cruz County, CA 148 km (92 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz 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. 1.6 14km N of Cayucos, CA
  2. 1.9 23km ENE of San Ardo, CA
  3. 2.0 23km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 2.4 16km WNW of Lake Nacimiento, CA
  5. 1.5 13km WSW of Lake Nacimiento, CA
  6. 2.1 25km NW of Parkfield, CA
  7. 1.6 7km WNW of San Ardo, CA
  8. 1.9 9km WSW of San Ardo, CA
  9. 2.3 25km NW of Parkfield, CA
  10. 2.3 14km NNW of San Simeon, CA
  11. 2.1 12km ENE of Cambria, CA
  12. 2.7 17km NW of Parkfield, CA
  13. 2.1 23km NE of San Ardo, CA
  14. 1.6 22km SW of New Idria, CA
  15. 2.3 17km NW of Parkfield, 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.