QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Coalinga, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Coalinga in the 24 hours to 1:29 am PST (09:29 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 4 km (3 mi) SE, at 1:44 am PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Coalinga

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) southwest of Coalinga, CA, at 6:15 pm PDT on 10 September 2026 (01:15 UTC), 3.4 km deep.

USGS: 12 km NW of Parkfield, CA

6:15 pm PDT, Sep 10, 2026 · · 3.4 km deep · released about 7.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Coalinga Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 65 kmSan Luis Obispo County 66 kmMonterey County 77 kmSan Benito County 87 kmFresno County 117 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
6:15 pm PDT on 10 September 2026 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) southwest of Coalinga, CA · earthquakes near Coalinga
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
3.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 65 km E
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, under 1 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 51 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Coalinga, 24 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: San Miguel.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.8 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 2019-12-17 — about 10,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · 35 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 36 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 4 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 23 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 42 km NNW 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 35.9753, -120.5295. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kings County, CA 65 km (40 mi) E earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 66 km (41 mi) S earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Monterey County, CA 77 km (48 mi) WNW earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 87 km (54 mi) NW earthquakes near San Benito County
Fresno County, CA 117 km (73 mi) NE earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.3 25 km E of San Ardo, CA
  2. 2.1 22 km NNE of San Lucas, CA
  3. 0.8 24 km ENE of San Ardo, CA
  4. 0.3 16 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  5. 1.1 23 km SSW of New Idria, CA
  6. 1.6 20 km SW of New Idria, CA
  7. 1.4 11 km NNW of Avenal, CA
  8. 1.7 22 km NE of San Ardo, CA
  9. 2.3 11 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  10. 1.2 12 km WSW of San Ardo, CA
  11. 1.0 22 km SW of New Idria, CA
  12. 1.5 19 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  13. 1.5 10 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  14. 1.7 20 km SW of New Idria, CA
  15. 1.1 16 km NW of Parkfield, 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.