Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1md
Earthquake near Avenal, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Avenal in the 24 hours to 2:29 am PST (10:29 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 7 km (4 mi) NW, at 12:34 am PDT on 18 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Avenal
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) west of Avenal, CA, at 12:43 pm PDT on 14 March 2023 (19:43 UTC), 14 km deep.
USGS: 11km W of Avenal, CA
95 km (59 mi) SSW of Fresno, CA
- When
- 12:43 pm PDT on 14 March 2023 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) west of Avenal, CA · earthquakes near Avenal
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (md)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 40 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 17 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 1335 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Avenal, 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Avenal, 11 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: Coalinga, Huron, Kettleman City.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 51 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 51 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 1,600 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 25 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 29 km S of this epicentre
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 22 km W of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 23 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 41 km WSW 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 36.0088, -120.2560. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 40 km (25 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Monterey County, CA | 99 km (61 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Fresno County, CA | 99 km (62 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| San Benito County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 15 km SSE of Stratford, CA
- 1.7 5 km WNW of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.8 13 km SSE of Cantua Creek, CA
- 1.7 12 km SSE of Cantua Creek, CA
- 2.2 7 km NNE of Coalinga, CA
- 1.9 7 km NNE of Coalinga, CA
- 2.3 7 km NNE of Coalinga, CA
- 1.7 25 km ENE of San Ardo, CA
- 1.6 2 km WNW of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.9 4 km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.1 4 km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.6 12km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.8 8km SW of Huron, CA
- 2.4 11km SSE of Parkfield, CA
- 1.7 14km SSW of Cantua Creek, 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.