QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Carmel Valley Village, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Carmel Valley Village in the 24 hours to 1:23 pm PST (21:23 UTC). The last one was M 3.9, 53 km (33 mi) E, at 3:19 am PDT on 11 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 34 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Carmel Valley Village

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 49 km (30 mi) south of Carmel Valley Village, CA, at 7:09 pm PDT on 19 April 2024 (02:09 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 21 km WNW of Lopez Point, CA

7:09 pm PDT, Apr 19, 2024 · · 16 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Carmel Valley Village Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 47 kmSan Benito County 88 kmSanta Cruz County 107 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
7:09 pm PDT on 19 April 2024 ()
Where
49 km (30 mi) south of Carmel Valley Village, CA · earthquakes near Carmel Valley Village
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 47 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Pfeiffer Point fault, 11 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 927 days ago

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 Carmel Valley Village, 49 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 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 870,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 620,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 55× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.2 25 km NW of San Simeon, California · 48 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 8 km E of Carmel Valley Village, California · 50 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 14 km NW of Big Sur, California · 36 km NNW 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 36.0655, -121.7978. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Monterey County, CA 47 km (29 mi) ENE earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 88 km (55 mi) NE earthquakes near San Benito County
Santa Cruz County, CA 107 km (66 mi) N earthquakes near Santa Cruz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 23 km S of Lopez Point, CA
  2. 1.9 27 km S of Lopez Point, CA
  3. 1.8 10 km SE of Lopez Point, CA
  4. 1.6 27 km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
  5. 2.8 24 km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
  6. 2.5 17 km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
  7. 1.6 25 km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
  8. 2.1 24 km NNW of San Simeon, CA
  9. 2.0 23 km NNW of San Simeon, CA
  10. 1.9 33 km SW of Lopez Point, CA
  11. 2.3 14 km SE of Point Sur, CA
  12. 2.2 30 km SSW of Lopez Point, CA
  13. 1.9 2 km ESE of Lopez Point, CA
  14. 1.5 4 km NNE of Lopez Point, CA
  15. 1.8 4 km NNE of Lopez Point, 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.