Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3md
Earthquake near Armona, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Armona in the 24 hours to 6:24 am PST (14:24 UTC). The last one was M 3.3, 32 km (20 mi) SW, at 6:21 am PDT on 4 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Armona
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) south of Armona, CA, at 4:09 pm PST on 27 December 2021 (00:09 UTC), 20 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 4km SSW of Armona, CA
8 km (5 mi) SW of Hanford, CA · 56 km (35 mi) S of Fresno, CA
- When
- 4:09 pm PST on 27 December 2021 ()
- Where
- 4 km (2 mi) south of Armona, CA · earthquakes near Armona
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (md)
- Depth
- 20 km below the surface
- Felt
- 3 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Kings County, 25 km SSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1779 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Armona, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Armona, 4 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, Home Garden, Hanford, Lucerne, Stratford, Lemoore Station.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 94 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 160,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 94 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 320 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 42 km WSW 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 36.2817, -119.7162. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 25 km (15 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 54 km (33 mi) | N | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Tulare County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | E | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Madera County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | N | earthquakes near Madera County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 119 km (74 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Merced County, CA | 135 km (84 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Merced County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 9km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.6 10km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.9 14km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.0 8km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 2.0 11km S of Home Garden, CA
- 1.7 8km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.8 11km ENE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.7 22km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.4 12km E of Coalinga, CA
- 1.6 12km E of Coalinga, CA
- 1.6 11km E of Coalinga, CA
- 2.1 16km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.2 12km ESE of Huron, CA
- 1.9 12km NNW of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.7 10km WSW of Huron, 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
- 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.