Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Stratford, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Stratford in the 24 hours to 12:53 am PST (08:53 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) south of Stratford, CA, at 9:15 am PDT on 31 May 2026 (16:15 UTC), 9.0 km deep.
USGS: 12 km S of Stratford, CA
78 km (49 mi) S of Fresno, CA · 31 km (19 mi) SSW of Hanford, CA
- When
- 9:15 am PDT on 31 May 2026 ()
- Where
- 12 km (8 mi) south of Stratford, CA · earthquakes near Stratford
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 9.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 1 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 12 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 155 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Stratford, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Stratford, CA. No account or email needed.
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 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Stratford, 12 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: Kettleman City, Lemoore Station, Corcoran, Lemoore, Armona, Huron.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2025-02-14 — about 8,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 31 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 11 km NNE of Coalinga, California · 46 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 11 km NE of Coalinga, California · 44 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.3 4 km NNE of Coalinga, California · 48 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 36.0785, -119.8178. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 1 km (0 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 77 km (48 mi) | N | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Tulare County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | E | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 96 km (59 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kern County, CA | 128 km (79 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| San Benito County, CA | 128 km (80 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
42 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 13 km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.7 33 km NNE of Simmler, CA
- 1.4 11 km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 2.3 9 km W of Corcoran, CA
- 1.5 5 km SE of Coalinga, CA
- 2.3 4 km SE of Coalinga, CA
- 1.3 9 km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.5 12 km SW of Huron, CA
- 2.2 10 km SE of Huron, CA
- 1.9 15 km ENE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.6 11 km NNW of Corcoran, CA
- 2.9 8 km WNW of Corcoran, CA
- 2.5 7 km NW of Avenal, CA
- 1.6 11 km SW of Huron, CA
- 1.9 9 km ESE of Coalinga, 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.