Earthquake near Hollister, CA

A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) NE of Hollister, CA, at 6:31 am PDT on 19 August 2016 (13:31 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 12,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 40 km WNW of this epicentre Jul 1, 1911
2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 32 km S of this epicentre Apr 9, 1961
3. 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 45 km W of this epicentre Mar 11, 1910
4. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 39 km S of this epicentre Aug 6, 1916
5. 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 29 km WNW of this epicentre Aug 6, 1979

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 37.0228, -121.2000. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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. 2.3 7 km N of Hollister, California 07:33 UTC
2. 1.7 12 km NNW of Hollister, California 02:54 UTC
3. 2.5 16 km E of Seven Trees, California 14:35 UTC
4. 2.3 16 km E of Seven Trees, California 14:29 UTC
5. 1.8 11 km S of Tres Pinos, California 06:31 UTC
6. 3.5 8 km S of Tres Pinos, California 22:09 UTC
7. 2.1 5 km S of Gilroy, California 20:21 UTC
8. 2.2 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California 13:43 UTC
9. 2.0 11 km S of Tres Pinos, California 20:34 UTC
10. 1.9 2 km E of Aromas, California 00:56 UTC
11. 2.1 2 km SSW of San Juan Bautista, California 18:19 UTC
12. 1.7 6 km SW of Ridgemark, California 12:30 UTC
13. 2.7 17 km SSE of Tres Pinos, California 08:32 UTC
14. 1.7 12 km NNE of Hollister, California 02:57 UTC
15. 2.1 10 km S of Tres Pinos, California 23:47 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 04:06 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.