Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.0mw
9km SSW of Kettleman City, CA
- When
- Magnitude
- M 4.0 (mw)
- Depth
- 9.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- 32 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Nearest
- Kings County, 23 km NE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1324 days ago
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 32 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 14 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 12,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 540× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 380× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.0 about 14 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 30× 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.
Where
Epicentre 35.9357, -120.0127. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 23 km (15 mi) | SW of here | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 73 km (45 mi) | NNE of here | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 97 km (60 mi) | SSW of here | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Tulare County, CA | 115 km (72 mi) | WSW of here | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Monterey County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | ESE of here | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | SE of here | earthquakes near San Benito County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 6km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.3 20km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.6 20km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.7 17km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.6 14km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.7 10km ESE of Shandon, CA
- 1.7 10km ESE of Shandon, CA
- 2.3 12km E of Coalinga, CA
- 1.8 10km E of Coalinga, CA
- 2.2 12km SW of Huron, CA
- 2.2 11km E of Coalinga, CA
- 2.2 10km ESE of Coalinga, CA
- 1.7 10km E of Coalinga, CA
- 2.7 10km E of Coalinga, CA
- 1.6 11km E 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.3 on 2019-12-17 — it released about 2.9 times the energy of this one.
From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.
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.