Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near San Luis Obispo, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in San Luis Obispo in the 24 hours to 6:24 am PST (14:24 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 18 km (11 mi) NNW, at 11:41 pm PDT on 15 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 61 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Luis Obispo
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) east of San Luis Obispo, CA, at 8:59 am PDT on 15 June 2023 (15:59 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 9km E of San Luis Obispo, CA
40 km (25 mi) NNW of Santa Maria, CA · 138 km (86 mi) W of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 8:59 am PDT on 15 June 2023 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) east of San Luis Obispo, CA · earthquakes near San Luis Obispo
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Luis Obispo County, 15 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Los Osos fault, 10 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 1246 days ago
Earthquake alerts for San Luis Obispo, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near San Luis Obispo, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In San Luis Obispo, 9 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: Santa Margarita, Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Avila Beach, Oceano.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.0 5 km SSW of Nipomo, California · 32 km S 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 35.2810, -120.5563. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 15 km (10 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Kings County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Monterey County, CA | 127 km (79 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
43 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 6 km NE of Santa Margarita, CA
- 1.8 8 km ESE of Atascadero, CA
- 1.8 26 km ENE of Nipomo, CA
- 2.8 20 km NE of Nipomo, CA
- 1.7 9 km WNW of Templeton, CA
- 2.0 3 km E of Avila Beach, CA
- 2.1 10 km ENE of Cayucos, CA
- 1.8 3 km S of Baywood-Los Osos, CA
- 1.8 15 km NE of Arroyo Grande, CA
- 2.2 5 km W of Templeton, CA
- 1.7 8 km ESE of San Luis Obispo, CA
- 2.0 10 km WNW of Templeton, CA
- 1.9 4 km W of Santa Margarita, CA
- 1.5 11 km E of San Luis Obispo, CA
- 2.5 16 km W of Simmler, 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.