QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Coalinga, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Coalinga in the 24 hours to 3:09 am PST (11:09 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 1:44 am PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Coalinga

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) west of Coalinga, CA, at 11:03 pm PDT on 30 September 2022 (06:03 UTC), 4.0 km deep.

USGS: 22km ENE of San Ardo, CA

11:03 pm PDT, Sep 30, 2022 · · 4.0 km deep · released about 24 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 59 kmSan Benito County 67 kmKings County 78 kmSan Luis Obispo County 82 kmFresno County 118 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
11:03 pm PDT on 30 September 2022 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) west of Coalinga, CA · earthquakes near Coalinga
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
4.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 59 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, under 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 1501 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Coalinga, 29 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 24 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 640,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 450,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 40× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 24 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 4.3 on 2019-12-17 — about 3,500 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 36 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 20 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 45 km N of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 42 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 23 km NNW 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 36.1018, -120.6822. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Monterey County, CA 59 km (37 mi) WNW earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 67 km (42 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Benito County
Kings County, CA 78 km (48 mi) E earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 82 km (51 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA 118 km (73 mi) NE earthquakes near Fresno County
Santa Cruz County, CA 156 km (97 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 20km NE of San Lucas, CA
  2. 1.6 2km SSE of Parkfield, CA
  3. 2.1 9km NNW of Avenal, CA
  4. 2.4 3km SSE of Parkfield, CA
  5. 1.7 16km NW of Parkfield, CA
  6. 2.5 17km NW of Parkfield, CA
  7. 2.1 15km NE of San Ardo, CA
  8. 1.8 22km NE of San Lucas, CA
  9. 2.2 23km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 1.6 18km WNW of New Idria, CA
  11. 1.5 14km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 1.9 19km NW of Parkfield, CA
  13. 1.8 5km SSW of San Ardo, CA
  14. 1.7 14km NW of Parkfield, CA
  15. 2.2 15km NW of Coalinga, 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.