QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

22km NE of San Lucas, CA

· 6.5 km deep · released about 550 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 44 kmSan Benito County 47 kmKings County 92 kmSan Luis Obispo County 101 kmMerced County 106 kmFresno County 119 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
6.5 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Monterey County, 44 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1513 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 550 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 28,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 19,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 550 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 36.2478, -120.8197. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Monterey County, CA 44 km (28 mi) E of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 47 km (29 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Kings County, CA 92 km (57 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 101 km (63 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Merced County, CA 106 km (66 mi) S of here earthquakes near Merced County
Fresno County, CA 119 km (74 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 17km NW of Parkfield, CA
  2. 1.5 11km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 2.2 24km NE of King City, CA
  4. 2.3 5km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 1.8 20km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  6. 2.1 3km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 2.0 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 1.6 3km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  9. 2.3 14km WSW of Cantua Creek, CA
  10. 1.6 2km N of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 1.5 22km WNW of New Idria, CA
  12. 1.6 12km N of Coalinga, CA
  13. 1.8 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 2.3 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  15. 1.6 21km SE 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.0 on 2021-08-31 — it released about 65 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.