Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.4ml
Earthquake near Avenal, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Avenal in the 24 hours to 3:43 pm PST (23:43 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 7 km (4 mi) NW, at 12:34 am PDT on 18 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Avenal
This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) north-northwest of Avenal, CA, at 7:47 pm PDT on 22 July 2022 (02:47 UTC), 7.9 km deep. 6 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 8km NNW of Avenal, CA
85 km (53 mi) SSW of Fresno, CA · 54 km (33 mi) WSW of Hanford, CA
- When
- 7:47 pm PDT on 22 July 2022 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) north-northwest of Avenal, CA · earthquakes near Avenal
- Magnitude
- M 3.4 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 6 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Kings County, 31 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 6 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 1503 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Avenal, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 55 km (34 mi) from the epicentre. In Avenal, 8 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Avenal 8 km, intensity III · Huron 15 km, intensity III · Coalinga 19 km, intensity III · Kettleman City 20 km, intensity III · Lemoore 42 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.7 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 99,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,400× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,100× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.7 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 3.6× more
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 24 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 22 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 37 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 31 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 34 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 8 km N 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 36.0743, -120.1630. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 31 km (19 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 81 km (50 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 89 km (55 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| San Benito County, CA | 102 km (63 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | W | earthquakes near Monterey County |
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.
- 1.7 17km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.9 15km NW of Coalinga, CA
- 1.6 2km W of Avenal, CA
- 2.1 3km WSW of Avenal, CA
- 1.7 26km E of Cholame, CA
- 2.1 26km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.7 12km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.6 14km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.9 16km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.7 11km N of Avenal, CA
- 2.2 7km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.9 9km NW of Lemoore Station, CA
- 1.7 8km NE of Coalinga, CA
- 1.5 9km NE of Coalinga, CA
- 1.7 6km SSW 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.