Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.9mw
Earthquake near King City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in King City in the 24 hours to 5:50 am PST (13:50 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 14 km (8 mi) E, at 4:39 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near King City
This page: a magnitude 3.9 earthquake was recorded 32 km (20 mi) east of King City, CA, at 8:23 pm PDT on 29 July 2020 (03:23 UTC), 8.7 km deep. 131 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 22km NE of San Ardo, CA
- When
- 8:23 pm PDT on 29 July 2020 ()
- Where
- 32 km (20 mi) east of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
- Magnitude
- M 3.9 (mw)
- Depth
- 8.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- 131 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Nearest
- Monterey County, 50 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, under 1 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 2224 days ago
Earthquake alerts for King City, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near King 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 87 km (54 mi) from the epicentre. In King City, 32 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.
Likely felt in: King City 32 km, intensity III · Coalinga 37 km, intensity III · Greenfield 45 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9.6 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 18,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 790× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 560× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.9 about 9.6 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 20× more
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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 41 km E of this epicentre
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 32 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 38 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 13 km N of this epicentre
- 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 39 km SSE 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 36.1873, -120.7653. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | W | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Kings County, CA | 86 km (54 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Merced County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | N | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Fresno County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
39 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 18km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.5 22km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.5 5km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 14km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.7 11km E of Coalinga, CA
- 2.2 10km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 16km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 2.7 24km ENE of San Ardo, CA
- 1.9 10km SSW of New Idria, CA
- 2.6 8km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.6 23km WSW of New Idria, CA
- 1.7 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.2 22km NE of San Ardo, CA
- 2.9 16km SW of Cantua Creek, 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.