QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near American Canyon, CA

USGS: 3 km SW of American Canyon, California

6 km (4 mi) NNW of Vallejo, CA

5:35 pm PDT, Aug 1, 2016 · · 10 km deep · released about 780 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near American Canyon Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Solano County 33 kmContra Costa County 39 kmNapa County 39 kmMarin County 41 kmAlameda County 65 kmYolo County 68 kmSonoma County 69 kmSan Francisco County 80 kmSan Mateo County 82 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
5:35 pm PDT on 1 August 2016 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) SW of American Canyon, CA · earthquakes near American Canyon
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
190 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Solano County, 33 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
West Napa fault, 8 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 2.9 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) SW of American Canyon, CA, at 5:35 pm PDT on 1 August 2016 (00:35 UTC). 190 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: Vallejo, Crockett, Rodeo, Hercules, Green Valley, Napa.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 780 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 19,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 780 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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 7 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 38 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 49 km WNW 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 38.1530, -122.2905. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Solano County, CA 33 km (21 mi) ENE earthquakes near Solano County
Contra Costa County, CA 39 km (25 mi) SE earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Napa County, CA 39 km (25 mi) N earthquakes near Napa County
Marin County, CA 41 km (26 mi) WSW earthquakes near Marin County
Alameda County, CA 65 km (41 mi) SSE earthquakes near Alameda County
Yolo County, CA 68 km (42 mi) NNE earthquakes near Yolo 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. 2.3 1 km NW of Piedmont, California
  2. 1.6 3 km SSW of Alamo, California
  3. 1.7 1 km SSE of East Richmond Heights, California
  4. 1.8 10 km E of Angwin, California
  5. 1.7 6 km ESE of Santa Rosa, California
  6. 2.3 6 km SSW of Yountville, California
  7. 1.8 3 km W of Orinda, California
  8. 2.0 3 km W of Orinda, California
  9. 2.7 6 km SSW of Yountville, California
  10. 1.8 5 km ENE of Chinatown, California
  11. 1.7 5 km WSW of Moskowite Corner, California
  12. 1.5 2 km N of Piedmont, California
  13. 2.1 4 km NE of Inverness, California
  14. 1.6 1 km ESE of Pacheco, California
  15. 1.5 5 km E of Alameda, 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.