QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Hollister, CA

USGS: 8 km ENE of Hollister, California

63 km (39 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 27 km (17 mi) ESE of Gilroy, CA

10:04 pm PDT, Aug 17, 2016 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Hollister Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 37 kmSanta Clara County 50 kmMerced County 62 kmSanta Cruz County 63 kmMonterey County 72 kmStanislaus County 79 kmAlameda County 99 kmSan Mateo County 110 kmSan Joaquin County 116 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
10:04 pm PDT on 17 August 2016 ()
Where
9 km (6 mi) ENE of Hollister, CA · earthquakes near Hollister
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 37 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Quien Sabe 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) ENE of Hollister, CA, at 10:04 pm PDT on 17 August 2016 (05:04 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Ridgemark, San Juan Bautista, Gilroy, Aromas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 8,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 38 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 20 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 35 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 25 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 29 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 36.8917, -121.3138. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 37 km (23 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Benito County
Santa Clara County, CA 50 km (31 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Merced County, CA 62 km (39 mi) ENE earthquakes near Merced County
Santa Cruz County, CA 63 km (39 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Monterey County, CA 72 km (45 mi) S earthquakes near Monterey County
Stanislaus County, CA 79 km (49 mi) NNE earthquakes near Stanislaus County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 20 km SSE of Tres Pinos, California
  2. 1.6 20 km SSE of Tres Pinos, California
  3. 2.1 23 km NE of Soledad, California
  4. 2.1 7 km WSW of Ridgemark, California
  5. 2.1 7 km SW of Ridgemark, California
  6. 1.8 2 km WSW of San Juan Bautista, California
  7. 1.6 23 km NE of Soledad, California
  8. 2.1 21 km NE of Soledad, California
  9. 2.0 21 km NE of Soledad, California
  10. 1.7 23 km NE of Soledad, 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.