QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near San Jose, CA

Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 23 km (15 mi) N of San Jose, CA, at 10:50 pm PST on 18 November 2016 (06:50 UTC), 4.7 km deep.

This was on 18 November 2016. The latest near San Jose: M 2.6 on 27 September 2026.

USGS: 6 km SE of Sunol, California

28 km (17 mi) N of San Jose, CA · 10 km (6 mi) NE of Fremont, CA

10:50 pm PST, Nov 18, 2016 · · 4.7 km deep · released about 9 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Jose Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alameda County 13 kmSanta Clara County 39 kmContra Costa County 43 kmSan Mateo County 49 kmSanta Cruz County 61 kmSan Joaquin County 66 kmStanislaus County 74 kmSolano County 81 kmMarin County 97 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
10:50 pm PST on 18 November 2016 ()
Where
23 km (15 mi) N of San Jose, CA · earthquakes near San Jose
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
4.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Alameda County, 13 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Calaveras fault, 1 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 3531 days ago

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 San Jose, 23 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Fremont, Pleasanton, Milpitas, Union City, Livermore, Newark.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 28 km S of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 30 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 39 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 7 km NNW of Boulder Creek, California · 48 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 33 km NNE 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 37.5462, -121.8468. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alameda County, CA 13 km (8 mi) NNW earthquakes near Alameda County
Santa Clara County, CA 39 km (24 mi) SSE earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Contra Costa County, CA 43 km (26 mi) NNW earthquakes near Contra Costa County
San Mateo County, CA 49 km (30 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Santa Cruz County, CA 61 km (38 mi) SSW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
San Joaquin County, CA 66 km (41 mi) NE earthquakes near San Joaquin County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 1 km E of North Gate, California
  2. 1.6 8 km NE of Milpitas, California
  3. 1.9 3 km S of Loyola, California
  4. 1.6 6 km ENE of East Foothills, California
  5. 1.8 9 km ENE of Blackhawk, California
  6. 1.7 5 km SW of Alamo, California
  7. 1.8 3 km S of Loyola, California
  8. 1.6 1 km SSW of Concord, California
  9. 2.2 1 km SW of Concord, California
  10. 2.0 3 km SSE of Piedmont, California
  11. 1.8 4 km N of East Foothills, California
  12. 2.4 9 km ESE of East Foothills, California
  13. 1.9 7 km NNE of East Foothills, California
  14. 2.0 1 km S of Hillsborough, California
  15. 2.0 1 km NW of Ladera, 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.