QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Los Banos, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Los Banos in the 24 hours to 9:48 pm PST (05:48 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 36 km (22 mi) WNW, at 9:18 pm PDT on 21 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Los Banos

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 41 km (25 mi) south of Los Banos, CA, at 2:03 am PST on 30 January 2022 (10:03 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 30km NE of Pinnacles, CA

2:03 am PST, Jan 30, 2022 · · 12 km deep · released about 9.3 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 21 kmMerced County 57 kmMonterey County 64 kmSanta Clara County 94 kmStanislaus County 97 kmSanta Cruz County 107 kmFresno County 109 kmMadera County 115 kmKings County 117 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
2:03 am PST on 30 January 2022 ()
Where
41 km (25 mi) south of Los Banos, CA · earthquakes near Los Banos
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 21 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Ortigalita fault, 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1735 days ago

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 2 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Los Banos, 41 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.3 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 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — about 38,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 32 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 31 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 34 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 45 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 38 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 36.6918, -120.8723. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 21 km (13 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Benito County
Merced County, CA 57 km (36 mi) NNE earthquakes near Merced County
Monterey County, CA 64 km (40 mi) SW earthquakes near Monterey County
Santa Clara County, CA 94 km (58 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Stanislaus County, CA 97 km (61 mi) N earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Santa Cruz County, CA 107 km (67 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 20km E of Pinnacles, CA
  2. 1.7 22km WNW of New Idria, CA
  3. 3.3 22km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 2.2 8km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 1.7 7km E of Pinnacles, CA
  6. 2.3 10km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 1.5 6km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 1.9 6km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  9. 2.4 6km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 2.6 6km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 3.1 7km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 2.1 6km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 1.7 6km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 4.1 7km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  15. 3.2 8km NNW of Pinnacles, 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.