QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Mendota, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Mendota in the 24 hours to 10:58 pm PST (06:58 UTC). The last one was M 3.9, 74 km (46 mi) WSW, at 3:19 am PDT on 11 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 34 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Mendota

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) southwest of Mendota, CA, at 1:37 pm PST on 9 November 2023 (21:37 UTC), 7.3 km deep.

USGS: 13 km NNW of New Idria, CA

1:37 pm PST, Nov 9, 2023 · · 7.3 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mendota Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 34 kmMonterey County 62 kmMerced County 74 kmKings County 95 kmFresno County 98 kmMadera County 115 kmSanta Clara County 116 kmStanislaus County 118 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
1:37 pm PST on 9 November 2023 ()
Where
39 km (24 mi) southwest of Mendota, CA · earthquakes near Mendota
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
7.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 34 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 13 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 1094 days ago

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 Mendota, 39 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.

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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.6 on 2017-11-13 — about 5,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 49 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 11 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 26 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 22 km SSW of Three Rocks, California · 30 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 11 km NNW of Coalinga, California · 42 km SE 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 36.5280, -120.7185. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 34 km (21 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 62 km (39 mi) WSW earthquakes near Monterey County
Merced County, CA 74 km (46 mi) N earthquakes near Merced County
Kings County, CA 95 km (59 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA 98 km (61 mi) ENE earthquakes near Fresno County
Madera County, CA 115 km (71 mi) NE earthquakes near Madera County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 27 km NNW of New Idria, CA
  2. 1.6 1 km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 2.1 2 km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 1.7 21 km SW of New Idria, CA
  5. 2.2 2 km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  6. 1.7 10 km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 1.7 4 km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 2.7 12 km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  9. 1.8 17 km ESE of Tres Pinos, CA
  10. 2.0 11 km SW of New Idria, CA
  11. 2.0 8 km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 1.6 5 km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 1.6 10 km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 1.9 14 km N of New Idria, CA
  15. 2.0 23 km ENE of San Ardo, 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

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