Earthquake near San Jose, CA

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) WSW of San Jose, CA, at 5:38 am PST on 7 November 2016 (13:38 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Boulder Creek, Portola Valley, Brookdale, Bonny Doon, Ben Lomond, Ladera.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 · 44 km ESE of this epicentre Oct 18, 1989
2. 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 45 km SSE of this epicentre Oct 22, 1926
3. 6.3 16 km SW of Davenport, California · 30 km S of this epicentre Oct 22, 1926
4. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 49 km ENE of this epicentre Aug 3, 1903
5. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 48 km E 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 37.1963, -122.3365. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.5 1 km ENE of Pacifica, California 06:15 UTC
2. 1.6 1 km ENE of Pacifica, California 00:21 UTC
3. 1.6 1 km SE of Lexington Hills, California 01:31 UTC
4. 1.8 1 km ENE of Pacifica, California 12:10 UTC
5. 1.5 Northern California 19:02 UTC
6. 1.7 3 km S of Loyola, California 18:31 UTC
7. 1.6 7 km SSE of Pescadero, California 16:21 UTC
8. 2.5 7 km S of Pescadero, California 11:35 UTC
9. 1.6 Northern California 18:55 UTC
10. 1.6 6 km SW of Loyola, California 06:24 UTC
11. 1.5 3 km S of Loyola, California 18:38 UTC
12. 2.6 10 km SSW of Pescadero, California 14:10 UTC
13. 1.9 1 km NNE of Pacifica, California 11:52 UTC
14. 1.7 2 km ENE of Pacifica, California 22:38 UTC
15. 1.7 1 km N of Pacifica, California 18:52 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.