Earthquake near Avenal, CA

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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Avenal, 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.

Likely felt in: Avenal 7 km, intensity II · Coalinga 19 km, intensity II · Huron 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 180 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 86,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 61,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.4× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 470 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 24 km NNW of this epicentre May 2, 1983
2. 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 33 km S of this epicentre Mar 10, 1922
3. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 28 km W of this epicentre Mar 3, 1901
4. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 30 km SSW of this epicentre Sep 28, 2004
5. 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 48 km WSW of this epicentre Jun 8, 1934

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 36.0425, -120.1912. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 3.8 15km SSE of New Idria, CA 07:38 UTC
2. 1.9 9km NNW of Avenal, CA 16:57 UTC
3. 1.5 7km NNW of Cholame, CA 13:49 UTC
4. 1.8 25km NW of Parkfield, CA 08:29 UTC
5. 1.9 23km NW of Parkfield, CA 18:45 UTC
6. 1.6 19km NNW of Coalinga, CA 16:33 UTC
7. 1.6 5km NW of Parkfield, CA 09:08 UTC
8. 2.6 2km SSE of Parkfield, CA 05:03 UTC
9. 2.1 13km NW of Parkfield, CA 00:27 UTC
10. 2.1 10km SSW of Stratford, CA 08:23 UTC
11. 1.9 12km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA 08:20 UTC
12. 1.7 8km WNW of Huron, CA 13:28 UTC
13. 1.5 13km WNW of Huron, CA 23:20 UTC
14. 1.7 20km NW of Parkfield, CA 08:13 UTC
15. 2.7 7km NNW of Cholame, CA 19:09 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 22:41 UTC. 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.