QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Stratford, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Stratford in the 24 hours to 10:23 am PST (18:23 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 8 km (5 mi) SW, at 7:37 am PDT on 6 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Stratford

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north of Stratford, CA, at 1:10 am PDT on 28 October 2021 (08:10 UTC), 22 km deep.

USGS: 5km N of Stratford, CA

61 km (38 mi) S of Fresno, CA · 19 km (12 mi) SW of Hanford, CA

1:10 am PDT, Oct 28, 2021 · · 22 km deep · released about 47 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 18 kmFresno County 61 kmTulare County 94 kmMadera County 109 kmSan Luis Obispo County 109 kmSan Benito County 120 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
1:10 am PDT on 28 October 2021 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) north of Stratford, CA · earthquakes near Stratford
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
22 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 18 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1830 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Stratford, 5 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: Lemoore Station, Lemoore, Armona, Home Garden, Hanford, Lucerne.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 47 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 320,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 20× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 47 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 4.0 on 2018-11-27 — about 640 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 43 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 31 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 11 km NNE of Coalinga, California · 41 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 11 km NE of Coalinga, California · 40 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 4 km NNE of Coalinga, California · 46 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 36.2325, -119.8302. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kings County, CA 18 km (11 mi) S earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA 61 km (38 mi) NNE earthquakes near Fresno County
Tulare County, CA 94 km (58 mi) E earthquakes near Tulare County
Madera County, CA 109 km (68 mi) N earthquakes near Madera County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 109 km (68 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
San Benito County, CA 120 km (75 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 12km ESE of Huron, CA
  2. 1.9 12km NNW of Kettleman City, CA
  3. 1.7 10km WSW of Huron, CA
  4. 1.7 7km E of Avenal, CA
  5. 1.9 7km WNW of Kettleman City, CA
  6. 2.4 5km S of Lanare, CA
  7. 2.6 6km ENE of Avenal, CA
  8. 1.6 5km ENE of Avenal, CA
  9. 1.6 12km N of Coalinga, CA
  10. 2.3 9km SW of Corcoran, CA
  11. 1.6 9km NNW of Avenal, CA
  12. 2.6 7km WSW of Avenal, CA
  13. 1.6 5km W of Avenal, CA
  14. 2.4 7km WSW of Avenal, CA
  15. 2.3 7km WSW of Avenal, 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.