Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3md
Earthquake near Kettleman City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Kettleman City in the 24 hours to 5:59 am PST (13:59 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 13 km (8 mi) S, at 5:43 pm PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Kettleman City
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) east of Kettleman City, CA, at 11:35 pm PDT on 31 July 2020 (06:35 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 19km E of Kettleman City, CA
89 km (55 mi) S of Fresno, CA · 39 km (24 mi) SSW of Hanford, CA
- When
- 11:35 pm PDT on 31 July 2020 ()
- Where
- 19 km (12 mi) east of Kettleman City, CA · earthquakes near Kettleman City
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 12 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 16 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 2293 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Kettleman City, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Kettleman 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 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Kettleman City, 19 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: Corcoran, Stratford, Alpaugh.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 72 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 210,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 150,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 72 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 420 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 41 km WNW 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 35.9825, -119.7488. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 12 km (7 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | N | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Tulare County, CA | 91 km (57 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 91 km (57 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kern County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 25km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.8 1km SW of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.1 6km SW of Woodville, CA
- 2.5 2km N of Armona, CA
- 1.7 13km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.6 9km NW of Avenal, CA
- 2.5 7km NW of Avenal, CA
- 1.6 9km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.6 12km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.6 13km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.5 12km E of Coalinga, CA
- 1.6 12km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 2.2 12km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 2.1 7km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.7 12km SW of Huron, 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.