QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Coalinga, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Coalinga in the 24 hours to 5:15 am PST (13:15 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 1:44 am PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Coalinga

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 33 km (20 mi) north-northeast of Coalinga, CA, at 4:09 pm PST on 3 December 2024 (00:09 UTC), 7.7 km deep.

USGS: 12 km SSE of Cantua Creek, CA

57 km (35 mi) SW of Fresno, CA · 53 km (33 mi) W of Hanford, CA

4:09 pm PST, Dec 3, 2024 · · 7.7 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Coalinga Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 54 kmFresno County 65 kmSan Benito County 79 kmMerced County 97 kmMadera County 98 kmMonterey County 98 kmSan Luis Obispo County 116 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
4:09 pm PST on 3 December 2024 ()
Where
33 km (20 mi) north-northeast of Coalinga, CA · earthquakes near Coalinga
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
7.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 54 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 13 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 446 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Coalinga, 33 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: San Joaquin, Huron.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 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 5.8 930,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 660,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 59× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 4.0 on 2024-10-02 — about 2,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 22 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 34 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 31 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 11 km NNE of Coalinga, California · 21 km SSW 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 36.4165, -120.2388. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kings County, CA 54 km (33 mi) SE earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA 65 km (40 mi) NE earthquakes near Fresno County
San Benito County, CA 79 km (49 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Benito County
Merced County, CA 97 km (60 mi) NNW earthquakes near Merced County
Madera County, CA 98 km (61 mi) NNE earthquakes near Madera County
Monterey County, CA 98 km (61 mi) W earthquakes near Monterey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 11 km SSE of Cantua Creek, CA
  2. 2.1 15 km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
  3. 1.9 14 km N of Coalinga, CA
  4. 1.7 11 km SE of Coalinga, CA
  5. 2.5 22 km W of Coalinga, CA
  6. 1.8 24 km W of Coalinga, CA
  7. 1.6 7 km WSW of Huron, CA
  8. 1.7 24 km W of Coalinga, CA
  9. 1.6 5 km WSW of Huron, CA
  10. 2.7 10 km NNW of Avenal, CA
  11. 2.3 8 km WSW of Huron, CA
  12. 1.5 8 km WNW of Huron, CA
  13. 3.2 10 km NNW of Avenal, CA
  14. 1.7 5 km NW of Avenal, CA
  15. 1.9 10 km NNW of Avenal, 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.