QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Kettleman City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Kettleman City in the 24 hours to 1:23 pm PST (21:23 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 1.9 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) south-southwest of Kettleman City, CA, at 12:30 am PST on 5 March 2023 (08:30 UTC), 9.1 km deep.

USGS: 25km SSW of Kettleman City, CA

12:30 am PST, Mar 5, 2023 · · 9.1 km deep · released about 20 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Kettleman City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 37 kmSan Luis Obispo County 59 kmFresno County 113 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
12:30 am PST on 5 March 2023 ()
Where
25 km (16 mi) south-southwest of Kettleman City, CA · earthquakes near Kettleman City
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
9.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 37 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 21 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 1346 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Kettleman City, 25 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 20 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 760,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 540,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 48× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 20 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 4,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 21 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 31 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 25 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 35.7880, -120.0202. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kings County, CA 37 km (23 mi) NNE earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 59 km (37 mi) SW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA 113 km (70 mi) NNE earthquakes near Fresno County
Tulare County, CA 122 km (76 mi) ENE earthquakes near Tulare County
Kern County, CA 127 km (79 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kern County
Monterey County, CA 127 km (79 mi) WNW earthquakes near Monterey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 25 km SW of Alpaugh, CA
  2. 1.7 5 km ESE of Cholame, CA
  3. 2.1 7 km SSW of Stratford, CA
  4. 1.9 7 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  5. 2.8 6 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  6. 4.3 6 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  7. 1.6 12 km E of Coalinga, CA
  8. 1.5 7 km S of Kettleman City, CA
  9. 1.6 11 km ENE of Coalinga, CA
  10. 1.6 11 km ENE of Coalinga, CA
  11. 1.6 10 km ENE of Coalinga, CA
  12. 2.5 7 km E of Avenal, CA
  13. 1.7 7 km E of Avenal, CA
  14. 2.0 8 km SSW of Stratford, CA
  15. 2.1 15 km SSE of Stratford, 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.