Earthquake near San Jose, CA

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 44 km (27 mi) SW of San Jose, CA, at 11:32 pm PDT on 27 October 2016 (06:32 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Bonny Doon, Boulder Creek, Brookdale, Ben Lomond, Felton, Mount Hermon.

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

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

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 36 km E of this epicentre Oct 18, 1989
2. 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 32 km SSE of this epicentre Oct 22, 1926
3. 6.3 16 km SW of Davenport, California · 19 km SSW of this epicentre Oct 22, 1926
4. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 48 km ENE of this epicentre Aug 3, 1903
5. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 44 km ENE of this epicentre Jun 11, 1903

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 37.0895, -122.2773. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.7 2 km S of Loyola, California 18:01 UTC
2. 1.5 1 km W of Los Altos Hills, California 15:43 UTC
3. 1.5 14 km SW of La Selva Beach, California 09:28 UTC
4. 1.6 7 km N of Boulder Creek, California 00:03 UTC
5. 1.8 4 km ENE of La Honda, California 13:52 UTC
6. 1.7 3 km WSW of Loyola, California 15:11 UTC
7. 1.5 2 km S of Loyola, California 17:38 UTC
8. 1.6 1 km SE of Lexington Hills, California 01:31 UTC
9. 1.5 Northern California 19:02 UTC
10. 1.7 3 km S of Loyola, California 18:31 UTC
11. 1.6 7 km SSE of Pescadero, California 16:21 UTC
12. 2.5 7 km S of Pescadero, California 11:35 UTC
13. 1.6 Northern California 18:55 UTC
14. 1.6 6 km SW of Loyola, California 06:24 UTC
15. 1.6 6 km S of La Selva Beach, California 09:50 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 04:05 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.