Earthquake near Diablo, CA

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Diablo, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Likely felt in: Diablo 4 km, intensity II · Danville 6 km, intensity II · Alamo 7 km, intensity II · Blackhawk 7 km, intensity II · Clayton 8 km, intensity II · Walnut Creek 10 km, intensity II · San Ramon 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 25 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 620,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 440,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 39× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 49 km NW of this epicentre Aug 24, 2014
2. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 17 km E of this epicentre Jan 24, 1980
3. 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 50 km SSE of this epicentre Mar 31, 1986
4. 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 48 km N of this epicentre May 19, 1902
5. 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 26 km ESE of this epicentre Jan 27, 1980

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 37.8702, -121.9615. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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. 1.9 1 km WSW of Concord, California 21:10 UTC
2. 2.3 8 km SE of Livermore, California 03:40 UTC
3. 1.6 1 km NW of Acalanes Ridge, California 13:43 UTC
4. 1.5 1 km NNW of Piedmont, California 10:45 UTC
5. 2.2 0 km NW of Piedmont, California 10:20 UTC
6. 2.3 1 km NW of Piedmont, California 10:20 UTC
7. 1.9 10 km N of East Foothills, California 13:43 UTC
8. 1.6 3 km SSW of Alamo, California 06:43 UTC
9. 1.6 10 km NNE of East Foothills, California 09:07 UTC
10. 1.7 1 km SSE of East Richmond Heights, California 01:37 UTC
11. 1.7 10 km SW of Brentwood, California 02:32 UTC
12. 1.6 6 km SE of Sunol, California 06:50 UTC
13. 1.5 2 km SSE of Pleasanton, California 02:02 UTC
14. 1.6 9 km NNE of East Foothills, California 11:33 UTC
15. 1.8 3 km W of Orinda, California 01:48 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 10:02 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.