QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

7 km WSW of Atascadero, CA

· 6.9 km deep · released about 890 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Luis Obispo County 27 kmMonterey County 102 kmKings County 108 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 3.0 (ml)
Depth
6.9 km below the surface
Felt
236 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
San Luis Obispo County, 27 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 195 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 236 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 890 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 380,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 17,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 890 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 35.4537, -120.7375. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Luis Obispo County, CA 27 km (17 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Monterey County, CA 102 km (63 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
Kings County, CA 108 km (67 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Kings County
Santa Barbara County, CA 120 km (75 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Santa Barbara County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 12 km NNE of Cayucos, CA
  2. 1.8 7 km SW of Atascadero, CA
  3. 2.8 7 km W of Templeton, CA
  4. 2.3 11 km SSW of Lake Nacimiento, CA
  5. 2.3 5 km NNE of Pismo Beach, CA
  6. 3.5 8 km W of Templeton, CA
  7. 1.5 8 km W of Templeton, CA
  8. 2.1 7 km W of Templeton, CA
  9. 2.1 10 km W of Templeton, CA
  10. 1.9 8 km W of Templeton, CA
  11. 2.0 7 km W of Templeton, CA
  12. 1.6 10 km W of Templeton, CA
  13. 1.9 7 km W of Templeton, CA
  14. 1.5 13 km WSW of Parkfield, CA
  15. 1.9 7 km W of Templeton, 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.