Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Kettleman City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Kettleman City in the 24 hours to 2:10 pm PST (22:10 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 13 km (8 mi) S, at 5:43 pm PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Kettleman City
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) southwest of Kettleman City, CA, at 4:17 pm PST on 5 December 2022 (00:17 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 8km SW of Kettleman City, CA
95 km (59 mi) SSW of Fresno, CA · 53 km (33 mi) SW of Hanford, CA
- When
- 4:17 pm PST on 5 December 2022 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) southwest of Kettleman City, CA · earthquakes near Kettleman City
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 23 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 10 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 1436 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Kettleman City, 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 Kettleman City, 8 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: Avenal, Huron.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 760,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 68× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 5,800 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 42 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 30 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 44 km W of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 35 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 25 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 35.9457, -120.0135. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 23 km (14 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 73 km (46 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 96 km (60 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Tulare County, CA | 115 km (72 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| San Benito County, CA | 121 km (75 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 121 km (75 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 25km SSW of Kettleman City, CA
- 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
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.