QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) south of Los Banos, CA, at 7:15 am PDT on 29 June 2022 (14:15 UTC), 2.9 km deep.

USGS: 24km ENE of Pinnacles, CA

7:15 am PDT, Jun 29, 2022 · · 2.9 km deep · released about 5.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 16 kmMonterey County 56 kmMerced County 65 kmSanta Clara County 96 kmStanislaus County 104 kmSanta Cruz County 107 kmFresno County 113 kmKings County 116 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
7:15 am PDT on 29 June 2022 ()
Where
48 km (30 mi) south of Los Banos, CA · earthquakes near Los Banos
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
2.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 16 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Ortigalita fault, 7 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 1596 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Los Banos, 48 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 5.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 63,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 31 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 30 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 31 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 39 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 35 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 36.6293, -120.9103. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 16 km (10 mi) W earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 56 km (35 mi) SW earthquakes near Monterey County
Merced County, CA 65 km (40 mi) NNE earthquakes near Merced County
Santa Clara County, CA 96 km (59 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Stanislaus County, CA 104 km (65 mi) N earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Santa Cruz County, CA 107 km (66 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

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

  1. 1.5 23km W of New Idria, CA
  2. 2.3 2km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 2.8 2km N of New Idria, CA
  4. 2.1 5km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 1.9 5km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  6. 1.8 11km S of Tres Pinos, CA
  7. 2.0 8km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 1.9 20km NNW of New Idria, CA
  9. 1.5 30km E of Tres Pinos, CA
  10. 1.6 4km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 1.7 3km NE of New Idria, CA
  12. 2.0 3km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 1.9 16km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 2.6 3km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  15. 1.8 3km NE 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.