Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0md
Earthquake near Mendota, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Mendota in the 24 hours to 6:22 pm PST (02:22 UTC). The last one was M 3.9, 74 km (46 mi) WSW, at 3:19 am PDT on 11 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 34 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Mendota
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 36 km (22 mi) west-southwest of Mendota, CA, at 3:10 pm PST on 24 December 2022 (23:10 UTC), 6.9 km deep.
USGS: 21km NNW of New Idria, CA
- When
- 3:10 pm PST on 24 December 2022 ()
- Where
- 36 km (22 mi) west-southwest of Mendota, CA · earthquakes near Mendota
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (md)
- Depth
- 6.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 32 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 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 1407 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Mendota, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Mendota, CA. No account or email needed.
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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Mendota, 36 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 29 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 520,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 370,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 33× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 29 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 12,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 16 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 46 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 47 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 33 km S of this epicentre
- 5.4 22 km SSW of Three Rocks, California · 37 km SSE 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 36.5988, -120.7312. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 32 km (20 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | N | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Fresno County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | E | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Kings County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 18km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 10km SE of Cantua Creek, CA
- 1.8 22km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.3 14km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
- 2.3 14km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
- 2.2 14km WNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.3 2km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.2 13km ENE of New Idria, CA
- 2.4 17km ENE of New Idria, CA
- 1.7 16km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 2km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 2km NE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 11km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.4 7km ESE 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.