QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near San Francisco, CA

USGS: 5 km ENE of Chinatown, California

7 km (4 mi) NE of San Francisco, CA · 7 km (4 mi) SW of Berkeley, CA

11:22 am PDT, Oct 29, 2016 · · 1.2 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Francisco Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Contra Costa County 37 kmMarin County 43 kmAlameda County 44 kmSan Mateo County 45 kmSan Francisco County 60 kmSolano County 62 kmNapa County 76 kmSanta Clara County 89 kmSonoma County 93 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
11:22 am PDT on 29 October 2016 ()
Where
7 km (5 mi) NE of San Francisco, CA · earthquakes near San Francisco
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
1.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Contra Costa County, 37 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Hayward fault, 11 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) NE of San Francisco, CA, at 11:22 am PDT on 29 October 2016 (18:22 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Emeryville, Oakland, Albany, Berkeley, Alameda, Bayview-Hunters Point.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 930,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 660,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 59× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 19 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 44 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 The 1957 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 20 km SSW 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 37.8205, -122.3567. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Contra Costa County, CA 37 km (23 mi) ENE earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Marin County, CA 43 km (27 mi) NW earthquakes near Marin County
Alameda County, CA 44 km (27 mi) ESE earthquakes near Alameda County
San Mateo County, CA 45 km (28 mi) S earthquakes near San Mateo County
San Francisco County, CA 60 km (37 mi) W earthquakes near San Francisco County
Solano County, CA 62 km (38 mi) NE earthquakes near Solano County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 1 km S of Pacheco, California
  2. 2.2 1 km E of Pacheco, California
  3. 1.9 9 km S of Antioch, California
  4. 1.6 1 km ENE of Pacifica, California
  5. 2.5 3 km NNW of Piedmont, California
  6. 2.4 7 km S of Muir Beach, California
  7. 1.7 1 km E of North Gate, California
  8. 1.8 9 km ENE of Blackhawk, California
  9. 1.7 5 km SW of Alamo, California
  10. 1.7 2 km E of Pacifica, California
  11. 1.6 1 km SSW of Concord, California
  12. 1.6 0 km S of Concord, California
  13. 2.2 1 km SW of Concord, California
  14. 2.0 3 km SSE of Piedmont, California
  15. 1.8 1 km ENE of Pacifica, 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.