QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

20km SE of Pinnacles, CA

· 9.6 km deep · released about 46 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 25 kmMonterey County 35 kmMerced County 91 kmSanta Clara County 110 kmKings County 111 kmSanta Cruz 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
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
9.6 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
San Benito County, 25 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1275 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 46 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 330,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 21× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 46 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.

Where

Epicentre 36.4070, -120.9838. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Benito County, CA 25 km (15 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 35 km (22 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
Merced County, CA 91 km (56 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Merced County
Santa Clara County, CA 110 km (68 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Kings County, CA 111 km (69 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Kings County
Santa Cruz County, CA 113 km (70 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz 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. 1.7 5km E of Pinnacles, CA
  2. 1.8 8km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 1.6 11km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  4. 2.2 23km ENE of San Lucas, CA
  5. 1.9 7km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  6. 2.0 22km NNE of San Lucas, CA
  7. 1.6 22km ENE of San Ardo, CA
  8. 1.9 21km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  9. 1.9 16km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 1.9 9km E of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 2.3 8km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 1.9 5km N of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 2.0 8km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 1.9 24km SW of South Dos Palos, CA
  15. 1.6 11km SE 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — it released about 7,700 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.