Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near King City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in King City in the 24 hours to 12:06 pm PST (20:06 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 30 km (19 mi) east of King City, CA, at 1:10 am PDT on 17 August 2020 (08:10 UTC), 9.0 km deep.
USGS: 22km ENE of San Lucas, CA
- When
- 1:10 am PDT on 17 August 2020 ()
- Where
- 30 km (19 mi) east of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 9.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Monterey County, 47 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 2271 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 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In King City, 30 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 7.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 43 km E of this epicentre
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 36 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 36 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 9 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 43 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 36.2168, -120.7928. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | W | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 51 km (32 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Kings County, CA | 89 km (55 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 97 km (60 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Merced County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | N | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Fresno County, CA | 118 km (74 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
31 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 6km N of New Idria, CA
- 2.5 16km W of Cantua Creek, CA
- 1.9 18km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.5 22km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.5 5km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.5 2km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 14km NW of Parkfield, 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
- 2.3 2km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.4 2km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.6 8km 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
- 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.