Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.7md
Earthquake near Coalinga, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Coalinga in the 24 hours to 3:14 am PST (11:14 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 1:44 am PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Coalinga
This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) west-southwest of Coalinga, CA, at 9:53 pm PDT on 20 September 2020 (04:53 UTC), 3.1 km deep.
USGS: 24km ENE of San Ardo, CA
- When
- 9:53 pm PDT on 20 September 2020 ()
- Where
- 27 km (17 mi) west-southwest of Coalinga, CA · earthquakes near Coalinga
- Magnitude
- M 2.7 (md)
- Depth
- 3.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Monterey County, 63 km WNW
- 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 2175 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Coalinga, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Coalinga, 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 25 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Coalinga, 27 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 330 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 46,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 33,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.9× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.7 about 330 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 4.3 on 2019-12-17 — about 250 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 35 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 16 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 47 km N of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 38 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 27 km NNW 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 36.0748, -120.6498. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Kings County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 78 km (49 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 117 km (73 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
40 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 9km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 1.9 10km NNE of New Idria, CA
- 1.7 12km SW of Huron, CA
- 1.7 23km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 22km ENE of San Lucas, CA
- 1.6 2km ENE of San Ardo, CA
- 1.9 4km SW of Avenal, CA
- 1.6 23km ENE of San Lucas, CA
- 1.7 21km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.6 23km NNE of San Lucas, CA
- 2.9 23km NNE of San Ardo, CA
- 2.1 21km NE of San Lucas, CA
- 1.5 20km NE of San Lucas, CA
- 2.4 5km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 2.5 23km 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.