California earthquakes

M1.9 earthquake Central California

A magnitude 1.9 earthquake struck in Central California on Mon, May 11, 1987, 10:24 PM PDT (05:24 UTC), 1 km (1 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M2.1 2 km ESE of San Ardo, California. This one was a foreshock.

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Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude
1.9 (md), micro
Local time
UTC
1987-05-12 05:24:20 UTC
Depth
1.4 km (0.9 mi), shallow
Epicenter
36.147° N, 121.734° W
Tsunami flag
No
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty
About 5.3 km horizontally, 6.3 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty
±0.10
Depth from
From location
Station coverage gap
264°, poorly surrounded by stations
Stations used
11

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 73 in the 60 days after this one and 58 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of 73.

Before

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc100398. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 8:26 PM UTC.