Earthquake near Santa Cruz, CA

A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) SSW of Santa Cruz, CA, at 3:43 am PDT on 11 April 2016 (10:43 UTC). 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Twin Lakes, Live Oak, Capitola, Pasatiempo, Soquel, Seacliff.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 210 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.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 72,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 51,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.6× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 210 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 32 km NE of this epicentre Oct 18, 1989
2. 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 10 km W of this epicentre Oct 22, 1926
3. 6.3 16 km SW of Davenport, California · 26 km WNW of this epicentre Oct 22, 1926
4. 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 38 km ENE of this epicentre Mar 11, 1910
5. 5.8 7 km NNW of Boulder Creek, California · 43 km N of this epicentre Sep 5, 1955

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 36.8060, -122.0892. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 2.3 4 km ESE of Aromas, California 01:43 UTC
2. 1.9 7 km WSW of Gilroy, California 16:18 UTC
3. 1.6 11 km W of Saratoga, California 18:45 UTC
4. 1.7 7 km SSE of Pescadero, California 13:38 UTC
5. 1.7 7 km SW of Gilroy, California 06:29 UTC
6. 1.5 1 km ENE of Aromas, California 23:09 UTC
7. 2.6 5 km WNW of San Juan Bautista, California 02:20 UTC
8. 1.6 2 km SSW of San Juan Bautista, California 01:49 UTC
9. 2.7 5 km SE of Aromas, California 19:07 UTC
10. 2.7 4 km WNW of San Juan Bautista, California 18:14 UTC
11. 2.8 5 km WNW of San Juan Bautista, California 18:14 UTC
12. 1.6 11 km NW of Davenport, California 06:32 UTC
13. 2.5 11 km NW of Davenport, California 06:29 UTC
14. 1.7 3 km ENE of Lompico, California 10:12 UTC
15. 2.1 5 km S of Gilroy, California 20:21 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 03:25 UTC. 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.