QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

12 km SW of Mendota, CA

· 5.9 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 55 kmMerced County 62 kmFresno County 74 kmMadera County 88 kmMonterey County 89 kmKings County 90 kmStanislaus County 109 kmMariposa County 112 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 1.5 (md)
Depth
5.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 55 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 124 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 36.6758, -120.4793. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Benito County, CA 55 km (34 mi) E of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Merced County, CA 62 km (38 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Merced County
Fresno County, CA 74 km (46 mi) W of here earthquakes near Fresno County
Madera County, CA 88 km (55 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Madera County
Monterey County, CA 89 km (55 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Monterey County
Kings County, CA 90 km (56 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Kings County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 15 km WSW of Firebaugh, CA
  2. 1.6 31 km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 2.0 32 km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 1.8 14 km SW of Cantua Creek, CA
  5. 1.8 12 km SW of Cantua Creek, CA
  6. 1.9 19 km W of New Idria, CA
  7. 2.0 24 km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 1.6 19 km NW of New Idria, CA
  9. 1.8 16 km E of New Idria, CA
  10. 1.9 16 km NE of New Idria, CA
  11. 2.9 13 km S of New Idria, CA
  12. 2.5 13 km SSW of Cantua Creek, CA
  13. 1.7 11 km SE 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.