Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1md
Earthquake near Los Banos, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Los Banos in the 24 hours to 5:48 pm PST (01:48 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 36 km (22 mi) WNW, at 9:18 pm PDT on 21 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Los Banos
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) west-northwest of Los Banos, CA, at 12:26 am PDT on 7 June 2023 (07:26 UTC), 5.8 km deep.
USGS: 4km WNW of Los Banos, CA
86 km (53 mi) ESE of San Jose, CA · 45 km (28 mi) SW of Merced, CA
- When
- 12:26 am PDT on 7 June 2023 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) west-northwest of Los Banos, CA · earthquakes near Los Banos
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (md)
- Depth
- 5.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Merced County, 20 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 5 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 1254 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Los Banos, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Los Banos, 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Los Banos, 3 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.
Likely felt in: Los Banos 3 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 43 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 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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 4.4 on 2023-04-04 — about 2,900 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 48 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 3 km ENE of Tres Pinos, California · 46 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.1 1 km NE of Tres Pinos, California · 48 km SW 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 37.0665, -120.8878. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merced County, CA | 20 km (13 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| San Benito County, CA | 54 km (33 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 56 km (35 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 73 km (45 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Monterey County, CA | 99 km (62 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
11 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 5 km SE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.6 10 km NNE of Hollister, CA
- 1.5 1 km ESE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.8 11km NNW of Hollister, CA
- 1.6 1km ESE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.6 19km SW of Gustine, CA
- 1.8 9km ENE of Hollister, CA
- 2.1 19km SW of Gustine, CA
- 1.8 18km SSW of South Dos Palos, CA
- 1.6 20km SW of Gustine, CA
- 2.0 3km WNW of Los Banos, 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.