Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 2.6md
Earthquake near Cambria, CA
Yes. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) NW of Cambria, CA, at 11:28 am PDT on 13 October 2026 (18:28 UTC), less than 1 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 28 km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
- When
- 11:28 am PDT on 13 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 42 km (26 mi) NW of Cambria, CA · earthquakes near Cambria
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (md)
- Depth
- -0.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Monterey County, 53 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Gregorio fault, 5 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 3 hours ago
Earthquake alerts for Cambria, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Cambria, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 23 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Cambria, 42 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 220 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 70,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 50,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 220 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 4.7 on 2021-10-25 — about 1,300 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 10 km NE of San Simeon, California · 34 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.2 28km NW of Cambria, CA · 14 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.7 Southwest of Cambria, California · 39 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.2 26km NNW of Lake Nacimiento, CA · 48 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.2 25 km NW of San Simeon, California · 11 km ENE 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 35.7797, -121.4618. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | 53 km (33 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
No further 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.