QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

Earthquake near Salinas, CA

USGS: 10 km S of Tres Pinos, California

79 km (49 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA · 27 km (16 mi) E of Salinas, CA

2:54 pm PDT, Aug 16, 2016 · · 4.5 km deep · released about 1,200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salinas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 24 kmMonterey County 51 kmSanta Clara County 66 kmSanta Cruz County 69 kmMerced County 78 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
2:54 pm PDT on 16 August 2016 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) E of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
4.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 24 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 2 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 3.1 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) E of Salinas, CA, at 2:54 pm PDT on 16 August 2016 (21:54 UTC). 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: Ridgemark, Hollister, Chualar, Gonzales, San Juan Bautista.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,200 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.3× more

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 53 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 · 11 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 43 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 8 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 48 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 15 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 36.6945, -121.3365. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 24 km (15 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 51 km (31 mi) S earthquakes near Monterey County
Santa Clara County, CA 66 km (41 mi) NNW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 69 km (43 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Merced County, CA 78 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

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

  1. 1.6 20 km SSE of Tres Pinos, California
  2. 2.1 23 km NE of Soledad, California
  3. 2.1 7 km WSW of Ridgemark, California
  4. 2.1 7 km SW of Ridgemark, California
  5. 1.8 2 km WSW of San Juan Bautista, California
  6. 1.6 23 km NE of Soledad, California
  7. 2.1 21 km NE of Soledad, California
  8. 2.0 21 km NE of Soledad, California
  9. 1.7 23 km NE of Soledad, California
  10. 2.1 24 km NE of Greenfield, California
  11. 1.9 15 km SE of Tres Pinos, California
  12. 1.5 0 km W of Hollister, California
  13. 1.5 2 km WNW of Ridgemark, California
  14. 2.3 28 km ENE of Soledad, California
  15. 2.3 28 km ENE of Soledad, 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.