QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

10km W of Avenal, CA

· 16 km deep · released about 420 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 39 kmSan Luis Obispo County 72 kmFresno County 98 kmMonterey County 100 kmSan Benito County 101 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
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Kings County, 39 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1758 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 420 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 36,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 26,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 420 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.

Where

Epicentre 36.0123, -120.2400. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Kings County, CA 39 km (24 mi) W of here earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 72 km (45 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA 98 km (61 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Fresno County
Monterey County, CA 100 km (62 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 101 km (63 mi) SE of here earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 7km NNW of Cholame, CA
  2. 1.5 13km SW of Huron, CA
  3. 1.8 6km NNE of Avenal, CA
  4. 2.6 10km NNE of Avenal, CA
  5. 1.5 34km S of Kettleman City, CA
  6. 1.6 18km NW of Parkfield, CA
  7. 1.8 11km ENE of Coalinga, CA
  8. 2.3 10km ENE of Coalinga, CA
  9. 2.0 11km NW of Parkfield, CA
  10. 2.1 19km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
  11. 2.1 19km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
  12. 1.9 18km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
  13. 2.0 18km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
  14. 1.9 21km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
  15. 1.8 22km SE of Kettleman City, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.3 on 2019-12-17 — it released about 200 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.