Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3md
Earthquake near Riverdale, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Riverdale in the 24 hours to 3:25 am PST (11:25 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 38 km (24 mi) S, at 6:21 am PDT on 4 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Riverdale
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) south-southwest of Riverdale, CA, at 1:06 am PDT on 13 September 2020 (08:06 UTC), 19 km deep.
USGS: 7km SSW of Riverdale, CA
47 km (29 mi) S of Fresno, CA · 21 km (13 mi) WNW of Hanford, CA
- When
- 1:06 am PDT on 13 September 2020 ()
- Where
- 7 km (5 mi) south-southwest of Riverdale, CA · earthquakes near Riverdale
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (md)
- Depth
- 19 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 33 km S
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2250 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Riverdale, CA
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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 Riverdale, 7 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: Lemoore Station, Lemoore, Armona, Laton, Lucerne, Caruthers.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 88 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 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 88 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 340 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 41 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 35 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 11 km NNE of Coalinga, California · 39 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 11 km NE of Coalinga, California · 39 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.4 11 km NNW of Coalinga, California · 50 km WSW 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 36.3677, -119.8858. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 33 km (21 mi) | S | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Madera County, CA | 94 km (59 mi) | N | earthquakes near Madera County |
| Tulare County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | E | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| San Benito County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Merced County, CA | 118 km (74 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Merced County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 3km E of Lemoore, CA
- 2.2 8km NW of Cantua Creek, CA
- 1.7 12km E of Coalinga, CA
- 2.2 4km SW of Armona, CA
- 2.4 9km WSW of Corcoran, CA
- 2.3 8km WSW of Corcoran, CA
- 2.2 8km W of Corcoran, CA
- 2.5 8km WSW of Corcoran, CA
- 2.0 8km W of Corcoran, CA
- 1.7 11km WSW of Huron, CA
- 2.2 6km SSE of Riverdale, CA
- 3.6 11km WSW of Huron, CA
- 1.5 3km ENE of Coalinga, CA
- 1.8 1km SW of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.6 8km NE of Coalinga, 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.