QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

4km WNW of Los Banos, CA

· 5.8 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Merced County 20 kmSan Benito County 54 kmStanislaus County 56 kmSanta Clara County 73 kmMonterey County 99 kmSanta Cruz County 100 kmMadera County 102 kmSan Joaquin County 102 kmMariposa County 103 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
5.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Merced County, 20 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1208 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. 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.

Where

Epicentre 37.0665, -120.8878. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Merced County, CA 20 km (13 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Merced County
San Benito County, CA 54 km (33 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Stanislaus County, CA 56 km (35 mi) S of here earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Santa Clara County, CA 73 km (45 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Monterey County, CA 99 km (62 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
Santa Cruz County, CA 100 km (62 mi) E 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

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

  1. 1.7 5 km SE of Tres Pinos, CA
  2. 1.6 10 km NNE of Hollister, CA
  3. 1.5 1 km ESE of Tres Pinos, CA
  4. 1.8 11km NNW of Hollister, CA
  5. 1.6 1km ESE of Tres Pinos, CA
  6. 1.6 19km SW of Gustine, CA
  7. 1.8 9km ENE of Hollister, CA
  8. 2.1 19km SW of Gustine, CA
  9. 1.8 18km SSW of South Dos Palos, CA
  10. 1.6 20km SW of Gustine, CA
  11. 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.4 on 2023-04-04 — it released about 2,900 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.