Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 2.6md
Earthquake near Stratford, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Stratford in the 24 hours to 7:45 pm PST (03:45 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 8 km (5 mi) SW, at 7:37 am PDT on 6 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Stratford
This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) west-southwest of Stratford, CA, at 2:26 pm PST on 21 December 2025 (22:26 UTC), 15 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 10 km WSW of Stratford, CA
71 km (44 mi) S of Fresno, CA · 31 km (19 mi) SW of Hanford, CA
- When
- 2:26 pm PST on 21 December 2025 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) west-southwest of Stratford, CA · earthquakes near Stratford
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (md)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 14 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 13 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 239 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Stratford, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Stratford, 10 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.
Likely felt in: Huron 17 km, intensity II · Kettleman City 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 210 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 72,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 51,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.6× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 210 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 4.3 on 2025-02-14 — about 340 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 36 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 21 km W of this epicentre
- 5.5 11 km NNE of Coalinga, California · 34 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 11 km NE of Coalinga, California · 33 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 11 km NNW of Coalinga, California · 45 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 36.1567, -119.9257. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 14 km (8 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Tulare County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | E | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| San Benito County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Madera County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | N | earthquakes near Madera 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.
- 1.8 6 km NNE of Avenal, CA
- 1.8 1 km SSW of Huron, CA
- 1.6 4 km WSW of Huron, CA
- 1.7 10 km ESE of Huron, CA
- 1.7 14 km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
- 2.0 14 km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
- 1.7 1 km ENE of Huron, CA
- 1.8 26 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.0 26 km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.6 1 km S of Huron, CA
- 1.5 1 km SSE of Huron, CA
- 1.8 2 km SSE of Huron, CA
- 2.3 1 km SSE of Huron, CA
- 1.7 12 km NNE of Coalinga, CA
- 1.7 18 km S of Cantua Creek, 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
- 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.