Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near King City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in King City in the 24 hours to 10:16 am PST (18:16 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 14 km (8 mi) E, at 4:39 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near King City
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 31 km (19 mi) southeast of King City, CA, at 12:01 am PDT on 25 August 2023 (07:01 UTC), 8.6 km deep.
USGS: 2 km SSE of San Ardo, CA
- When
- 12:01 am PDT on 25 August 2023 ()
- Where
- 31 km (19 mi) southeast of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 8.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Monterey County, 46 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 22 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 1173 days ago
Earthquake alerts for King City, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near King City, 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In King City, 31 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 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 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 4.7 on 2021-10-25 — about 45,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 10 km NE of San Simeon, California · 38 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 35 km E of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 27 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.4 22 km SSW of Three Rocks, California · 50 km NE 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 36.0027, -120.8935. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | 46 km (29 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 70 km (43 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kings County, CA | 97 km (60 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 139 km (87 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 150 km (93 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 16 km WSW of King City, CA
- 2.7 12 km NNW of San Simeon, CA
- 2.3 10 km ENE of Cambria, CA
- 2.0 23 km ENE of San Ardo, CA
- 2.2 11 km NE of San Simeon, CA
- 1.6 11 km NE of San Simeon, CA
- 2.6 11 km NE of San Simeon, CA
- 2.0 21 km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 1.6 17 km NNE of San Simeon, CA
- 1.8 8 km SSE of San Lucas, CA
- 1.5 7 km NE of San Simeon, CA
- 1.6 12 km NW of Parkfield, CA
- 2.0 13 km NNW of San Simeon, CA
- 1.9 14 km NNW of San Simeon, CA
- 1.5 22 km NE of King City, 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.