M2.1 earthquake 13 km NW of Avenal, California

Magnitude

2.1 (Md, duration), micro

Magnitude from

Northern California Seismic System

Local time

Thu, May 18, 1978, 5:36 PM PDT

UTC

1978-05-19 00:36:18 UTC

Depth

7.2 km (4.5 mi), shallow

Epicenter

36.096° N, 120.219° W

Region

California

Tsunami flag

No

Status

Reviewed by a seismologist

Location uncertainty

About 0.7 km horizontally, 1.0 km in depth

Magnitude uncertainty

±0.19

Depth from

From location

Station coverage gap

236°, poorly surrounded by stations

Stations used

9

• Avenal, CaliforniaPopulation 13,301. Forecast13 kmNW
• Fresno, CaliforniaPopulation 542,107. Forecast83 kmSSW
• Los Angeles, CaliforniaPopulation 3,820,914. Forecast290 kmNW

After

1. 1.621 km NE of Soledad, CaliforniaSat, May 20, 2:50 AM PDT · 17666 days ago · 7 km deep · 98 km away
2. 2.79 km SW of Coalinga, CaliforniaSun, May 21, 8:23 PM PDT · 17665 days ago · 9 km deep · 21 km away
3. 2.617 km NW of Parkfield, CaliforniaSun, May 21, 9:49 PM PDT · 17665 days ago · 5 km deep · 33 km away
4. 2.017 km NW of Parkfield, CaliforniaSun, May 21, 9:56 PM PDT · 17665 days ago · 5 km deep · 33 km away
5. 1.826 km NE of Greenfield, CaliforniaThu, May 25, 11:38 PM PDT · 17661 days ago · 6 km deep · 85 km away
6. 2.422 km ENE of Soledad, CaliforniaFri, May 26, 3:56 PM PDT · 17660 days ago · 2 km deep · 94 km away
7. 2.435 km W of Three Rocks, CaliforniaSat, May 27, 8:08 AM PDT · 17659 days ago · 3 km deep · 71 km away
8. 2.6Central CaliforniaSun, May 28, 9:26 PM PDT · 17658 days ago · 9 km deep · 93 km away
9. 1.910 km W of Templeton, CaliforniaTue, May 30, 6:54 PM PDT · 17656 days ago · 3 km deep · 81 km away
10. 1.86 km N of Greenfield, CaliforniaWed, May 31, 10:26 AM PDT · 17655 days ago · 3 km deep · 97 km away
11. 1.924 km NE of Greenfield, CaliforniaFri, Jun 2, 9:40 AM PDT · 17653 days ago · 5 km deep · 87 km away
12. 2.523 km NE of King City, CaliforniaFri, Jun 2, 5:10 PM PDT · 17653 days ago · 8 km deep · 74 km away
13. 2.027 km NE of Soledad, CaliforniaSat, Jun 3, 5:08 AM PDT · 17652 days ago · 9 km deep · 93 km away
14. 2.731 km ENE of San Lucas, CaliforniaSat, Jun 3, 10:14 PM PDT · 17652 days ago · 9 km deep · 48 km away
15. 1.621 km NW of Parkfield, CaliforniaSun, Jun 4, 12:10 PM PDT · 17651 days ago · 2 km deep · 35 km away
16. 2.98km NNE of Farmersville, CASun, Jun 4, 7:19 PM PDT · 17651 days ago · 6 km deep · 97 km away
17. 1.616 km NW of Parkfield, CaliforniaMon, Jun 5, 4:20 PM PDT · 17650 days ago · 4 km deep · 33 km away
18. 1.622 km NE of San Lucas, CaliforniaWed, Jun 7, 1:57 AM PDT · 17649 days ago · 6 km deep · 62 km away
19. 1.621 km NE of Soledad, CaliforniaThu, Jun 8, 4:45 AM PDT · 17647 days ago · 9 km deep · 98 km away
20. 2.124 km ENE of Soledad, CaliforniaThu, Jun 8, 8:38 PM PDT · 17647 days ago · 3 km deep · 89 km away
21. 2.46km W of Buttonwillow, CAFri, Jun 9, 1:57 AM PDT · 17647 days ago · 24 km deep · 100 km away
22. 1.821 km NE of Soledad, CaliforniaFri, Jun 9, 11:44 AM PDT · 17646 days ago · 7 km deep · 97 km away
23. 2.423 km NW of Parkfield, CaliforniaSat, Jun 10, 6:44 AM PDT · 17645 days ago · 5 km deep · 36 km away
24. 2.423 km NW of Parkfield, CaliforniaSat, Jun 10, 6:56 AM PDT · 17645 days ago · 6 km deep · 36 km away
25. 2.124 km ENE of Greenfield, CaliforniaSun, Jun 11, 5:36 PM PDT · 17644 days ago · 6 km deep · 77 km away
26. 2.233 km ENE of Soledad, CaliforniaThu, Jun 15, 1:53 PM PDT · 17640 days ago · 17 km deep · 85 km away
27. 2.024 km ENE of Greenfield, CaliforniaFri, Jun 16, 6:51 PM PDT · 17639 days ago · 6 km deep · 80 km away
28. 2.02 km SE of San Ardo, CaliforniaSun, Jun 18, 12:19 AM PDT · 17638 days ago · 13 km deep · 61 km away
29. 2.5Central CaliforniaWed, Jun 21, 2:33 PM PDT · 17634 days ago · 9 km deep · 10 km away
30. 1.74 km NW of Parkfield, CaliforniaFri, Jun 23, 8:52 PM PDT · 17632 days ago · 5 km deep · 30 km away
31. 1.5Central CaliforniaSat, Jun 24, 4:16 PM PDT · 17631 days ago · 4 km deep · 74 km away
32. 1.813 km SSE of Parkfield, CaliforniaSun, Jun 25, 1:01 AM PDT · 17631 days ago · 9 km deep · 35 km away
33. 2.523 km ENE of Soledad, CaliforniaSun, Jun 25, 5:04 PM PDT · 17630 days ago · 4 km deep · 89 km away
34. 1.723 km NE of King City, CaliforniaWed, Jun 28, 11:06 AM PDT · 17627 days ago · 4 km deep · 70 km away
35. 2.322 km NE of Soledad, CaliforniaFri, Jun 30, 12:29 AM PDT · 17626 days ago · 3 km deep · 95 km away
36. 2.022 km NE of Soledad, CaliforniaFri, Jun 30, 2:19 PM PDT · 17625 days ago · 2 km deep · 95 km away
37. 2.36 km N of Avenal, CaliforniaSun, Jul 2, 1:00 PM PDT · 17623 days ago · 6 km deep · 9 km away
38. 2.221 km NE of Soledad, CaliforniaMon, Jul 3, 7:30 PM PDT · 17622 days ago · 2 km deep · 98 km away
39. 1.513 km NW of Parkfield, CaliforniaThu, Jul 6, 10:40 PM PDT · 17619 days ago · 5 km deep · 32 km away
40. 2.013 km NW of Parkfield, CaliforniaSat, Jul 8, 10:18 PM PDT · 17617 days ago · 4 km deep · 32 km away
41. 2.46 km SW of West Park, CaliforniaThu, Jul 13, 10:37 AM PDT · 17612 days ago · 12 km deep · 70 km away
42. 1.925 km SE of Tres Pinos, CaliforniaSun, Jul 16, 12:33 PM PDT · 17609 days ago · 15 km deep · 100 km away

Before

1. 2.413 km S of Lake Nacimiento, CaliforniaFri, May 12, 1:58 PM PDT · 17674 days ago · 3 km deep · 81 km away
2. 2.325 km ENE of Greenfield, CaliforniaFri, May 12, 10:53 AM PDT · 17674 days ago · 1 km deep · 78 km away
3. 2.425 km ENE of Greenfield, CaliforniaTue, May 9, 11:37 AM PDT · 17677 days ago · 1 km deep · 78 km away
4. 2.223 km NE of San Ardo, CaliforniaTue, May 9, 8:33 AM PDT · 17677 days ago · 8 km deep · 49 km away
5. 1.822 km ENE of San Ardo, CaliforniaMon, May 8, 11:33 PM PDT · 17678 days ago · 2 km deep · 41 km away
6. 1.925 km ENE of Greenfield, CaliforniaMon, May 8, 4:02 PM PDT · 17678 days ago · 1 km deep · 79 km away
7. 2.125 km ENE of Greenfield, CaliforniaMon, May 8, 3:21 PM PDT · 17678 days ago · 1 km deep · 79 km away
8. 1.725 km ENE of Greenfield, CaliforniaMon, May 8, 12:26 PM PDT · 17678 days ago · 5 km deep · 79 km away
9. 1.627 km NE of San Ardo, CaliforniaMon, May 8, 6:12 AM PDT · 17678 days ago · 6 km deep · 48 km away
10. 2.127 km NE of San Ardo, CaliforniaMon, May 8, 3:00 AM PDT · 17678 days ago · 6 km deep · 48 km away
11. 3.36 km N of Biola, CaliforniaSun, May 7, 6:07 PM PDT · 17679 days ago · 10 km deep · 86 km away
12. 1.731 km W of Three Rocks, CaliforniaFri, May 5, 4:56 PM PDT · 17681 days ago · 8 km deep · 65 km away
13. 1.724 km ENE of San Lucas, CaliforniaThu, May 4, 8:52 AM PDT · 17682 days ago · 5 km deep · 52 km away
14. 1.523 km ENE of Soledad, CaliforniaThu, May 4, 4:54 AM PDT · 17682 days ago · 3 km deep · 89 km away
15. 1.99 km W of Coalinga, CaliforniaWed, May 3, 2:05 AM PDT · 17684 days ago · 11 km deep · 22 km away
16. 1.74 km SSE of Parkfield, CaliforniaMon, May 1, 11:23 PM PDT · 17685 days ago · 4 km deep · 31 km away
17. 2.323 km NE of King City, CaliforniaMon, May 1, 5:19 AM PDT · 17685 days ago · 7 km deep · 74 km away
18. 2.711km W of Delano, CAMon, May 1, 4:53 AM PDT · 17685 days ago · 6 km deep · 85 km away
19. 1.624 km NE of Greenfield, CaliforniaSun, Apr 30, 3:56 AM PDT · 17686 days ago · 5 km deep · 83 km away
20. 1.624 km NE of Greenfield, CaliforniaFri, Apr 28, 9:38 PM PST · 17688 days ago · 5 km deep · 85 km away

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc1040327. Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 9:08 PM UTC.