Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Los Banos, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Los Banos in the 24 hours to 11:37 pm PST (07:37 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 38 km (24 mi) south-southwest of Los Banos, CA, at 6:17 pm PDT on 23 October 2022 (01:17 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 26km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
97 km (60 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 58 km (36 mi) E of Salinas, CA
- When
- 6:17 pm PDT on 23 October 2022 ()
- Where
- 38 km (24 mi) south-southwest of Los Banos, CA · earthquakes near Los Banos
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 16 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Ortigalita fault, 8 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 1480 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Los Banos, 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 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Los Banos, 38 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 9.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 100× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.3 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 38,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 43 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 21 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 25 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 42 km W of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 29 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 36.7332, -120.9847. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 16 km (10 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Merced County, CA | 56 km (35 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Monterey County, CA | 62 km (39 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 83 km (52 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 92 km (57 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 96 km (60 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
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 4km ESE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.8 6km NE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 1km W of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.8 28km NNW of New Idria, CA
- 2.4 9km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.5 8km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.8 13km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.3 4km SE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.6 10km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.7 16km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 17km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 8km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 23km ESE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.8 7km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.3 3km NNE 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
- 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.