QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2md

Earthquake near South Dos Palos, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in South Dos Palos in the 24 hours to 7:37 pm PST (03:37 UTC). The last one was M 3.9, 64 km (40 mi) SW, at 3:19 am PDT on 11 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 34 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near South Dos Palos

This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) south-southwest of South Dos Palos, CA, at 4:08 am PDT on 20 October 2022 (11:08 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 17km SSW of South Dos Palos, CA

57 km (35 mi) WSW of Madera, CA · 113 km (70 mi) ESE of San Jose, CA

4:08 am PDT, Oct 20, 2022 · · 11 km deep · released about 67 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 42 kmMerced County 42 kmMonterey County 85 kmStanislaus County 87 kmFresno County 93 kmMadera County 95 kmSanta Clara County 99 kmMariposa County 109 kmKings County 114 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
4:08 am PDT on 20 October 2022 ()
Where
17 km (10 mi) south-southwest of South Dos Palos, CA · earthquakes near South Dos Palos
Magnitude
M 2.2 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 42 km WSW
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 1483 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 South Dos Palos, 17 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Dos Palos, Firebaugh, Mendota.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 67 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 230,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 160,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 14× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 67 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 4.0 on 2022-09-01 — about 450 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 36 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 48 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 25 km NE of Soledad, California · 46 km SW 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 36.8175, -120.6963. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 42 km (26 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Benito County
Merced County, CA 42 km (26 mi) N earthquakes near Merced County
Monterey County, CA 85 km (53 mi) SW earthquakes near Monterey County
Stanislaus County, CA 87 km (54 mi) NNW earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Fresno County, CA 93 km (58 mi) E earthquakes near Fresno County
Madera County, CA 95 km (59 mi) ENE earthquakes near Madera County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 13km E of Tres Pinos, CA
  2. 2.0 3km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 1.9 6km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 2.1 12km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 1.5 6km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  6. 1.8 6km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 2.0 4km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 2.2 3km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  9. 1.7 32km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 1.5 9km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 1.8 6km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 1.8 28km NNW of New Idria, CA
  13. 2.1 23km ESE of Tres Pinos, CA
  14. 2.3 3km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  15. 2.1 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.