Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Shandon, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Shandon in the 24 hours to 12:24 pm PST (20:24 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 13 km (8 mi) NE, at 3:39 pm PST on 2 December 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Shandon
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) southeast of Shandon, CA, at 6:21 am PST on 2 November 2020 (14:21 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 21km SE of Shandon, CA
- When
- 6:21 am PST on 2 November 2020 ()
- Where
- 21 km (13 mi) southeast of Shandon, CA · earthquakes near Shandon
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Luis Obispo County, 24 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Juan 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 2193 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Shandon, 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Shandon, 21 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 9 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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 9,100 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 27 km N of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 36 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 32 km N of this epicentre
- 5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 28 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 28 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 35.5120, -120.2285. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 24 km (15 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kings County, CA | 73 km (45 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | S | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Monterey County, CA | 127 km (79 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
37 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 6km W of Templeton, CA
- 3.3 1km W of Parkfield, CA
- 1.7 9km WSW of Atascadero, CA
- 2.2 4km WSW of Paso Robles, CA
- 1.7 14km SSW of Avenal, CA
- 1.9 14km SSW of Avenal, CA
- 1.6 22km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 2.2 4km ESE of Cholame, CA
- 1.6 7km E of Atascadero, CA
- 1.7 8km SW of Atascadero, CA
- 1.6 6km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 3.2 4km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 2.3 5km SSE of Parkfield, CA
- 1.5 7km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 1.5 6km NNE of Santa Margarita, 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.