Earthquake near Paso Robles, CA

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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Paso Robles, 3 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.

Likely felt in: Paso Robles 3 km, intensity II · Atascadero 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 58 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 260,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 180,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 16× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 58 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 1,400 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 45 km ENE of this epicentre Mar 10, 1922
2. 6.5 10 km NE of San Simeon, California · 36 km WNW of this epicentre Dec 22, 2003
3. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 47 km NNE of this epicentre Mar 3, 1901
4. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 39 km NE of this epicentre Sep 28, 2004
5. 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 26 km N of this epicentre Jun 8, 1934

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 35.6128, -120.7200. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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. 1.7 9km WNW of Templeton, CA 18:53 UTC
2. 1.5 8km ENE of San Simeon, CA 11:12 UTC
3. 1.9 11km N of Cayucos, CA 16:48 UTC
4. 1.7 2km ENE of Cayucos, CA 21:06 UTC
5. 1.8 7km NNE of San Simeon, CA 12:51 UTC
6. 1.7 2km SE of San Ardo, CA 07:40 UTC
7. 1.6 12km NE of San Simeon, CA 20:09 UTC
8. 1.7 8km NE of San Simeon, CA 19:19 UTC
9. 1.6 5km WSW of Paso Robles, CA 06:40 UTC
10. 1.7 4km WSW of Paso Robles, CA 05:55 UTC
11. 1.6 9km N of Cambria, CA 04:10 UTC
12. 1.9 17km NW of Parkfield, CA 19:30 UTC
13. 1.9 7km W of Templeton, CA 01:08 UTC
14. 2.8 10km NNW of Cholame, CA 18:04 UTC
15. 1.7 12km NNE of Cambria, CA 18:01 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 13:55 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.