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 10:40 pm PST (06:40 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 25 km (16 mi) east-northeast of King City, CA, at 2:47 am PDT on 4 May 2021 (09:47 UTC), 5.8 km deep.
USGS: 22km SW of New Idria, CA
- When
- 2:47 am PDT on 4 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 25 km (16 mi) east-northeast of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 5.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Monterey County, 41 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 2011 days ago
Earthquake alerts for King City, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near King City, 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 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, 25 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 5.6 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 2021-01-02 — about 16,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 50 km E of this epicentre
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 46 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 33 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 8 km E of this epicentre
- 5.4 22 km SSW of Three Rocks, California · 32 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 36.2885, -120.8622. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | 41 km (25 mi) | W | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 41 km (26 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Kings County, CA | 97 km (60 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Merced County, CA | 102 km (63 mi) | N | earthquakes near Merced County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 120 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
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 10km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.8 2km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 21km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.8 3km NE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 4km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 5km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.5 19km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 3km NE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 12km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 3km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 16km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 2.0 2km NE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 10km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 2km E of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.5 2km ENE 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
- 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.