QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near King City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in King City in the 24 hours to 1:28 am PST (09:28 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 14 km (8 mi) E, at 4:39 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near King City

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 32 km (20 mi) southeast of King City, CA, at 5:24 am PDT on 12 September 2025 (12:24 UTC), 8.4 km deep.

USGS: 3 km SSE of San Ardo, CA

5:24 am PDT, Sep 12, 2025 · · 8.4 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near King City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Monterey County 47 kmSan Benito County 71 kmSan Luis Obispo County 79 kmKings County 97 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
5:24 am PDT on 12 September 2025 ()
Where
32 km (20 mi) southeast of King City, CA · earthquakes near King City
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
8.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Monterey County, 47 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 22 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 415 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In King City, 32 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 29,000 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 · 38 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 35 km E of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 28km NW of Cambria, CA · 50 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 36 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 26 km SE 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 35.9965, -120.8937. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Monterey County, CA 47 km (29 mi) NW earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 71 km (44 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Benito County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 79 km (49 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA 97 km (60 mi) E earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA 140 km (87 mi) NE earthquakes near Fresno County
Santa Cruz County, CA 151 km (94 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 8 km W of Templeton, CA
  2. 2.0 7 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  3. 2.1 10 km W of Templeton, CA
  4. 1.6 10 km W of Templeton, CA
  5. 2.2 18 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  6. 2.5 18 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  7. 2.4 18 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  8. 1.6 11 km ESE of San Ardo, CA
  9. 1.9 20 km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 2.6 21 km NNE of San Simeon, CA
  11. 1.5 13 km WSW of Parkfield, CA
  12. 2.2 8 km W of Templeton, CA
  13. 1.5 8 km W of Templeton, CA
  14. 1.6 5 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  15. 1.5 8 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.