Earthquake near Paso Robles, CA

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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Paso Robles, 42 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: Lake Nacimiento.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 36 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 420,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 300,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 27× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 36 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 7,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.5 10 km NE of San Simeon, California · 31 km SSW of this epicentre Dec 22, 2003
2. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 40 km E of this epicentre Mar 3, 1901
3. 6.2 28km NW of Cambria, CA · 43 km SW of this epicentre Nov 22, 1952
4. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 42 km NNE of this epicentre Jul 25, 1926
5. 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 27 km ESE of this epicentre Jun 8, 1934

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 35.9457, -120.9420. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.7 16 km NW of Parkfield, CA 04:30 UTC
2. 1.9 22 km NE of San Ardo, CA 20:24 UTC
3. 1.9 24 km NNW of Parkfield, CA 16:42 UTC
4. 1.6 4 km SSW of Paso Robles, CA 01:13 UTC
5. 1.9 18 km NNW of Parkfield, CA 01:35 UTC
6. 2.2 15 km NW of Parkfield, CA 01:08 UTC
7. 1.6 15 km ENE of San Simeon, CA 05:17 UTC
8. 1.9 11 km NW of Parkfield, CA 19:56 UTC
9. 2.0 22 km ENE of San Ardo, CA 02:51 UTC
10. 1.7 25 km NNW of Parkfield, CA 18:27 UTC
11. 1.6 25 km SSE of Lopez Point, CA 13:13 UTC
12. 2.1 19 km NNW of Parkfield, CA 05:24 UTC
13. 2.1 25 km NNW of Parkfield, CA 18:53 UTC
14. 2.1 25 km W of Coalinga, CA 06:08 UTC
15. 2.5 22 km ENE of San Ardo, CA 17:23 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 12:21 UTC. 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.