QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Newman, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Newman in the 24 hours to 11:53 pm PST (07:53 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 24 km (15 mi) SW, at 9:18 pm PDT on 21 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Newman

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) west-southwest of Newman, CA, at 1:50 pm PDT on 21 October 2024 (20:50 UTC), 8.1 km deep.

USGS: 20 km W of Newman, CA

51 km (32 mi) E of San Jose, CA · 42 km (26 mi) SW of Turlock, CA

1:50 pm PDT, Oct 21, 2024 · · 8.1 km deep · released about 19 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Stanislaus County 38 kmSanta Clara County 41 kmMerced County 46 kmAlameda County 73 kmSan Joaquin County 73 kmSanta Cruz County 74 kmSan Benito County 75 kmContra Costa County 95 kmSan Mateo County 102 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
1:50 pm PDT on 21 October 2024 ()
Where
20 km (12 mi) west-southwest of Newman, CA · earthquakes near Newman
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
8.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Stanislaus County, 38 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Ortigalita fault, 6 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 751 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Newman, 20 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: Gustine, Patterson.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 19 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 790,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 560,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 50× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 19 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 5.1 on 2022-10-25 — about 61,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 40 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 50 km W of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 39 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 31 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 46 km WNW 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 37.2750, -121.2363. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Stanislaus County, CA 38 km (24 mi) NNE earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Santa Clara County, CA 41 km (25 mi) W earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Merced County, CA 46 km (29 mi) E earthquakes near Merced County
Alameda County, CA 73 km (45 mi) NW earthquakes near Alameda County
San Joaquin County, CA 73 km (46 mi) N earthquakes near San Joaquin County
Santa Cruz County, CA 74 km (46 mi) WSW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 4 km NNW of Los Banos, CA
  2. 1.6 17 km W of Patterson, CA
  3. 2.2 23 km W of Los Banos, CA
  4. 2.2 10 km ESE of Gilroy, CA
  5. 2.1 2 km NNW of Hollister, CA
  6. 2.0 9 km ENE of San Martin, CA
  7. 3.3 9 km ENE of San Martin, CA
  8. 1.9 9 km ENE of San Martin, CA
  9. 2.9 9 km ENE of San Martin, CA
  10. 1.6 7 km W of Gilroy, CA
  11. 2.1 8 km ENE of Interlaken, CA
  12. 1.9 9 km E of Alum Rock, CA
  13. 2.3 13 km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
  14. 2.6 5 km SW of Gilroy, CA
  15. 2.8 10 km ESE of Alum Rock, 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.