QuakeIndex

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 1:22 pm PST (21:22 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 24 km (15 mi) east-northeast of King City, CA, at 10:57 pm PDT on 19 October 2020 (05:57 UTC), 6.4 km deep.

USGS: 23km SW of New Idria, CA

10:57 pm PDT, Oct 19, 2020 · · 6.4 km deep · released about 8.1 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near King City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 39 kmMonterey County 39 kmKings County 99 kmMerced County 100 kmSan Luis Obispo County 109 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
10:57 pm PDT on 19 October 2020 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) east-northeast of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
6.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 39 km NNW
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 2206 days ago

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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In King City, 24 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 8.1 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.1 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 4.6 on 2017-11-13 — about 28,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 48 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 33 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 10 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 22 km SSW of Three Rocks, California · 34 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 11 km NNW of Coalinga, California · 43 km E 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 36.3035, -120.8832. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 39 km (24 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 39 km (24 mi) W earthquakes near Monterey County
Kings County, CA 99 km (62 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kings County
Merced County, CA 100 km (62 mi) N earthquakes near Merced County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 109 km (68 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA 121 km (75 mi) ENE earthquakes near Fresno County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

42 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.5 20km NE of San Lucas, CA
  2. 2.5 23km NW of Parkfield, CA
  3. 2.2 5km SSW of San Ardo, CA
  4. 1.7 7km N of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 1.6 2km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  6. 2.3 20km NW of Parkfield, CA
  7. 1.6 4km N of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 1.7 15km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  9. 1.6 2km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 2.3 17km NNE of New Idria, CA
  11. 1.9 20km NNW of New Idria, CA
  12. 1.5 9km E of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 2.2 14km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 1.6 23km ENE of San Ardo, CA
  15. 1.7 33km SSW of South Dos Palos, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.