QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

18 km SSW of New Idria, CA

· 8.1 km deep · released about 38 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 52 kmMonterey County 55 kmKings County 82 kmSan Luis Obispo County 100 kmMerced County 104 kmFresno County 109 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
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
8.1 km below the surface
Felt
1 report
Nearest
San Benito County, 52 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 802 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 38 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 5.8 390,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 25× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 38 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.

Where

Epicentre 36.2592, -120.7028. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Benito County, CA 52 km (32 mi) SE of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 55 km (34 mi) E of here earthquakes near Monterey County
Kings County, CA 82 km (51 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 100 km (62 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Merced County, CA 104 km (65 mi) S of here earthquakes near Merced County
Fresno County, CA 109 km (68 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 16 km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  2. 1.6 3 km SE of San Ardo, CA
  3. 1.9 5 km WSW of New Idria, CA
  4. 2.0 9 km SSW of San Ardo, CA
  5. 2.0 17 km NNW of Parkfield, CA
  6. 1.9 9 km E of Coalinga, CA
  7. 1.6 10 km E of Coalinga, CA
  8. 1.9 17 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  9. 2.6 16 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  10. 1.7 23 km WSW of New Idria, CA
  11. 1.7 5 km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 1.5 6 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  13. 2.3 12 km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
  14. 1.8 23 km E of San Ardo, CA
  15. 2.0 13 km NNE of Coalinga, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.3 on 2023-08-10 — it released about 2,100 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

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