Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Los Banos, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Los Banos in the 24 hours to 1:59 am PST (09:59 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 36 km (22 mi) WNW, at 9:18 pm PDT on 21 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Los Banos
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) south of Los Banos, CA, at 7:02 am PDT on 3 May 2020 (14:02 UTC), 6.9 km deep.
USGS: 33km NE of Pinnacles, CA
- When
- 7:02 am PDT on 3 May 2020 ()
- Where
- 40 km (25 mi) south of Los Banos, CA · earthquakes near Los Banos
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 6.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 24 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Ortigalita fault, 4 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 2380 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Los Banos, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Los Banos, 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Los Banos, 40 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — about 59,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 30 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 34 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 37 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 44 km S of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 41 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 36.6952, -120.8395. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 24 km (15 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Merced County, CA | 57 km (35 mi) | N | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Monterey County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 96 km (59 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| Fresno County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | E | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 16km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.6 10km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 8km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 22km SW of New Idria, CA
- 2.1 2km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.2 1km ENE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.8 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 9km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 3.3 8km SW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.5 3km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.3 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 16km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.7 15km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.8 15km SSE of Tres Pinos, 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.