QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near King City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in King City in the 24 hours to 1:15 pm PST (21:15 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) east-northeast of King City, CA, at 6:30 pm PST on 15 December 2020 (02:30 UTC), 7.0 km deep.

USGS: 20km NE of San Lucas, CA

6:30 pm PST, Dec 15, 2020 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 6.2 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near King City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 40 kmSan Benito County 43 kmKings County 97 kmMerced County 104 kmSan Luis Obispo County 105 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
6:30 pm PST on 15 December 2020 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) east-northeast of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 40 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 2150 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 8 km (5 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 6.2 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 44 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 35 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 10 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 22 km SSW of Three Rocks, California · 33 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 11 km NNW of Coalinga, California · 41 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 36.2655, -120.8685. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Monterey County, CA 40 km (25 mi) W earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 43 km (27 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Benito County
Kings County, CA 97 km (60 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kings County
Merced County, CA 104 km (65 mi) N earthquakes near Merced County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 105 km (65 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA 122 km (76 mi) ENE earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 23km ENE of San Lucas, CA
  2. 1.7 21km NW of Parkfield, CA
  3. 1.6 10km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 2.2 10km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 1.9 10km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  6. 2.0 16km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 2.6 11km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 1.6 10km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  9. 3.4 10km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 1.5 11km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 1.6 10km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 2.5 10km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 2.5 11km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 1.5 11km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  15. 2.4 10km NW of Pinnacles, 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.