Earthquake near Templeton, 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 27 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In Templeton, 9 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Paso Robles 11 km, intensity III · Atascadero 15 km, intensity II · Cayucos 18 km, intensity II · Cambria 26 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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 170 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.5 10 km NE of San Simeon, California · 30 km WNW of this epicentre Dec 22, 2003
2. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 47 km NE of this epicentre Sep 28, 2004
3. 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 31 km NNE of this epicentre Jun 8, 1934
4. 5.7 Southwest of Cambria, California · 38 km WSW of this epicentre Dec 7, 1906
5. 5.2 26km NNW of Lake Nacimiento, CA · 44 km NNW of this epicentre Dec 28, 1939

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 35.5845, -120.7950. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.7 18km NNW of San Simeon, CA 12:31 UTC
2. 1.6 12km NW of Parkfield, CA 04:39 UTC
3. 2.2 4km WSW of Paso Robles, CA 14:21 UTC
4. 1.5 21km NNE of San Simeon, CA 12:57 UTC
5. 2.1 18km NNW of San Simeon, CA 06:57 UTC
6. 2.6 17km NNW of San Simeon, CA 01:04 UTC
7. 1.5 12km NW of Parkfield, CA 11:48 UTC
8. 1.6 18km NNW of San Simeon, CA 18:00 UTC
9. 2.1 18km NNW of San Simeon, CA 07:06 UTC
10. 1.5 18km NNW of San Simeon, CA 01:33 UTC
11. 3.2 7km NW of Parkfield, CA 09:28 UTC
12. 1.7 10km N of San Simeon, CA 05:29 UTC
13. 1.5 11km NNE of Cambria, CA 18:29 UTC
14. 1.6 18km NNW of San Simeon, CA 06:33 UTC
15. 1.9 18km NNW of San Simeon, CA 03:59 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 21:14 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.