QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near South Dos Palos, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in South Dos Palos in the 24 hours to 7:37 pm PST (03:37 UTC). The last one was M 3.9, 64 km (40 mi) SW, at 3:19 am PDT on 11 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 34 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near South Dos Palos

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) south-southwest of South Dos Palos, CA, at 7:23 am PDT on 12 July 2021 (14:23 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 26km SSW of South Dos Palos, CA

7:23 am PDT, Jul 12, 2021 · · -0.2 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 35 kmMerced County 50 kmMonterey County 76 kmStanislaus County 94 kmFresno County 96 kmSanta Clara County 100 kmMadera County 102 kmKings County 111 kmSanta Cruz County 117 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
7:23 am PDT on 12 July 2021 ()
Where
26 km (16 mi) south-southwest of South Dos Palos, CA · earthquakes near South Dos Palos
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
-0.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 35 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 2 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 1855 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In South Dos Palos, 26 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Firebaugh, Dos Palos.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 30,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 30 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 44 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 47 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 49 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 3 km ENE of Tres Pinos, California · 50 km W 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 36.7432, -120.7335. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 35 km (22 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Benito County
Merced County, CA 50 km (31 mi) N earthquakes near Merced County
Monterey County, CA 76 km (47 mi) SW earthquakes near Monterey County
Stanislaus County, CA 94 km (59 mi) NNW earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Fresno County, CA 96 km (60 mi) E earthquakes near Fresno County
Santa Clara County, CA 100 km (62 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Clara County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 8km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
  2. 2.0 15km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 2.0 8km N of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 2.1 7km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 1.7 23km WSW of New Idria, CA
  6. 2.2 16km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 1.6 7km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 2.5 15km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
  9. 1.5 8km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 2.1 9km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 4.0 6km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 1.7 4km N of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 1.8 8km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 1.7 7km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  15. 2.1 1km NE 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.