QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near El Cerrito, CA

USGS: 1 km NE of El Cerrito, California

20 km (12 mi) NNE of San Francisco, CA · 6 km (4 mi) ESE of Richmond, CA

10:41 pm PDT, Sep 22, 2016 · · 8.8 km deep · released about 6.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near El Cerrito Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Contra Costa County 30 kmMarin County 42 kmAlameda County 46 kmSolano County 49 kmSan Mateo County 58 kmNapa County 64 kmSan Francisco County 68 kmSonoma County 86 kmSan Joaquin County 90 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
10:41 pm PDT on 22 September 2016 ()
Where
in El Cerrito, CA · earthquakes near El Cerrito
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
8.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Contra Costa County, 30 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Hayward fault, 7 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 in El Cerrito, CA, at 10:41 pm PDT on 22 September 2016 (05:41 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: East Richmond Heights, Kensington, Richmond, Albany, Rollingwood, El Sobrante.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.4 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 2,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 30 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 32 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 48 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 The 1957 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 33 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 48 km ESE 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 37.9300, -122.2982. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Contra Costa County, CA 30 km (19 mi) E earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Marin County, CA 42 km (26 mi) WNW earthquakes near Marin County
Alameda County, CA 46 km (29 mi) SE earthquakes near Alameda County
Solano County, CA 49 km (30 mi) NE earthquakes near Solano County
San Mateo County, CA 58 km (36 mi) S earthquakes near San Mateo County
Napa County, CA 64 km (40 mi) N earthquakes near Napa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 2 km NE of Pacifica, California
  2. 1.7 1 km ENE of Alamo, California
  3. 1.8 3 km NNW of Castro Valley, California
  4. 2.1 3 km NNW of Castro Valley, California
  5. 1.6 2 km NE of Pacifica, California
  6. 1.8 2 km SSE of North Gate, California
  7. 1.9 3 km SE of North Gate, California
  8. 1.5 5 km WNW of Broadmoor, California
  9. 1.6 1 km SW of Blackhawk, California
  10. 2.1 0 km SW of Blackhawk, California
  11. 1.5 1 km SW of Blackhawk, California
  12. 2.4 2 km SSE of Berkeley, California
  13. 1.6 0 km SW of Blackhawk, California
  14. 1.9 1 km WSW of Concord, California
  15. 1.6 1 km NW of Acalanes Ridge, 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.