Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Los Banos, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Los Banos in the 24 hours to 9:01 pm PST (05:01 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 36 km (22 mi) WNW, at 9:18 pm PDT on 21 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Los Banos
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 36 km (23 mi) south-southwest of Los Banos, CA, at 6:43 am PDT on 4 May 2021 (13:43 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 29km NE of Pinnacles, CA
99 km (61 mi) SE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 6:43 am PDT on 4 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 36 km (23 mi) south-southwest of Los Banos, CA · earthquakes near Los Banos
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 0.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 19 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Ortigalita fault, 4 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 2017 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Los Banos, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Los Banos, 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Los Banos, 36 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 7.3 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 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — about 48,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 41 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 25 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 28 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 45 km W of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 32 km WSW 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 36.7413, -120.9467. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 19 km (12 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Merced County, CA | 54 km (34 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Monterey County, CA | 65 km (40 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 91 km (57 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 99 km (62 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.9 5km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 4km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 26km SSW of Los Banos, CA
- 1.7 13km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 3.0 13km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.9 11km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 11km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 2km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 2km N of Pinnacles, 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
- 2.2 6km NNE of Tres Pinos, 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.