QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.2md

Earthquake near Coalinga, CA

USGS: 11 km NW of Parkfield, CA

7:15 pm PDT, Sep 28, 2026 · · 11 km deep · released about 2.2 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Luis Obispo County 64 kmKings County 65 kmMonterey County 77 kmSan Benito County 88 kmFresno County 118 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
7:15 pm PDT on 28 September 2026 ()
Where
25 km (15 mi) SW of Coalinga, CA · earthquakes near Coalinga
Magnitude
M 1.2 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Luis Obispo County, 64 km S
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 4 days ago

A magnitude 1.2 earthquake was recorded 25 km (15 mi) SW of Coalinga, CA, at 7:15 pm PDT on 28 September 2026 (02:15 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: San Miguel.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.2 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 6,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 440× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.2 about 2.2 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 38,000 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 NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 34 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 1901 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 5 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 22 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 43 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 35.9637, -120.5260. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Luis Obispo County, CA 64 km (40 mi) S earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA 65 km (40 mi) E earthquakes near Kings County
Monterey County, CA 77 km (48 mi) WNW earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 88 km (55 mi) NW earthquakes near San Benito County
Fresno County, CA 118 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

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

  1. 0.9 12 km NNE of Parkfield, CA
  2. 2.0 11 km NW of Parkfield, CA
  3. 2.0 8 km N of Coalinga, CA
  4. 1.5 3 km N of Cholame, CA
  5. 1.3 9 km NNW of Avenal, CA
  6. 1.5 12 km SW of Huron, 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.