Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Paso Robles, CA
USGS: 3 km N of Cholame, CA
- When
- 10:21 am PDT on 1 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 38 km (24 mi) ENE of Paso Robles, CA · earthquakes near Paso Robles
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Luis Obispo County, 42 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, under 1 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 32 hours ago
A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 38 km (24 mi) ENE of Paso Robles, CA, at 10:21 am PDT on 1 October 2026 (17:21 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Shandon.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.6 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 15,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 4 km E of this epicentre
- 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 33 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 10 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 1934 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 35 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 46 km NNE 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 35.7495, -120.2988. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kings County, CA | 56 km (35 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Monterey County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 119 km (74 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Fresno County, CA | 126 km (79 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
3 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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.