QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near Salinas, CA

USGS: 10 km S of Tres Pinos, California

80 km (50 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA · 28 km (17 mi) E of Salinas, CA

6:33 am PDT, Jul 21, 2016 · · 3.8 km deep · released about 32 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salinas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 23 kmMonterey County 50 kmSanta Clara County 67 kmSanta Cruz County 71 kmMerced County 77 kmStanislaus County 101 kmAlameda 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
6:33 am PDT on 21 July 2016 ()
Where
30 km (18 mi) E of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
3.8 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
San Benito County, 23 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3521 days ago

A magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 30 km (18 mi) E of Salinas, CA, at 6:33 am PDT on 21 July 2016 (13:33 UTC). 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Ridgemark, Hollister, Chualar, Gonzales, San Juan Bautista, Soledad.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 32 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 470,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 330,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 30× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 32 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 4.2 on 2016-07-19 — about 2,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 10 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 44 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 7 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 16 km NW 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 36.6922, -121.3232. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 23 km (14 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 50 km (31 mi) S earthquakes near Monterey County
Santa Clara County, CA 67 km (42 mi) NNW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 71 km (44 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Merced County, CA 77 km (48 mi) NE earthquakes near Merced County
Stanislaus County, CA 101 km (63 mi) NNE earthquakes near Stanislaus County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 21 km NE of Soledad, California
  2. 1.5 25 km WSW of Volta, California
  3. 1.6 8 km ENE of Hollister, California
  4. 3.2 10 km S of Tres Pinos, California
  5. 3.1 10 km S of Tres Pinos, California
  6. 2.5 10 km S of Tres Pinos, California
  7. 1.9 14 km SSE of Tres Pinos, California
  8. 1.5 21 km NE of Soledad, California
  9. 1.8 9 km SSW of Tres Pinos, California
  10. 3.6 9 km S of Tres Pinos, California
  11. 2.3 3 km N of Hollister, California
  12. 3.4 21 km NE of Soledad, California
  13. 2.1 7 km ENE of Gilroy, California
  14. 1.6 35 km ENE of Greenfield, California
  15. 2.0 9 km S of Tres Pinos, California

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.