Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Atascadero, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Atascadero in the 24 hours to 8:24 am PST (16:24 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 8 km (5 mi) SW, at 6:08 am PDT on 21 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Atascadero
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southeast of Atascadero, CA, at 2:23 pm PST on 14 November 2023 (22:23 UTC), 9.7 km deep.
USGS: 5 km SE of Atascadero, CA
- When
- 2:23 pm PST on 14 November 2023 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) southeast of Atascadero, CA · earthquakes near Atascadero
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 9.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Luis Obispo County, 18 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Los Osos 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 1093 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Atascadero, CA
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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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Atascadero, 5 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, Templeton, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Cayucos.
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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2019-12-17 — about 15,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 47 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 46 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 43 km N of this epicentre
- 5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 48 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.1 13km N of San Miguel, CA · 46 km N 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 35.4593, -120.6275. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 18 km (11 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kings County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Monterey County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 3 km E of Avila Beach, CA
- 2.0 5 km SE of Cholame, CA
- 1.6 10 km SSE of Parkfield, CA
- 2.1 10 km ENE of Cayucos, CA
- 1.9 8 km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 1.8 3 km S of Baywood-Los Osos, CA
- 1.8 15 km NE of Arroyo Grande, CA
- 2.9 11 km SSE of Parkfield, CA
- 2.2 5 km W of Templeton, CA
- 1.7 8 km ESE of San Luis Obispo, CA
- 1.7 11 km E of San Simeon, 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
- 1.6 13 km WSW of Parkfield, 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.