QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

15 km N of Morgan Hill, California

· 2.1 km deep · released about 41 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Clara County 6 kmSanta Cruz County 42 kmAlameda County 48 kmSan Mateo County 66 kmStanislaus County 66 kmContra Costa County 77 kmSan Joaquin County 81 kmMerced County 83 kmSan Benito County 89 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
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
2.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Clara County, 6 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3515 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 41 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 370,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 260,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 23× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 41 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.

Where

Epicentre 37.2675, -121.6518. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Santa Clara County, CA 6 km (4 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 42 km (26 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Alameda County, CA 48 km (30 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Alameda County
San Mateo County, CA 66 km (41 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near San Mateo County
Stanislaus County, CA 66 km (41 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Contra Costa County, CA 77 km (48 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Contra Costa 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. 2.6 4 km ESE of Aromas, California
  2. 2.1 3 km ESE of Aromas, California
  3. 1.6 4 km ESE of Aromas, California
  4. 3.2 5 km ESE of Aromas, California
  5. 4.0 2 km ESE of Aromas, California
  6. 1.8 14 km E of Seven Trees, California
  7. 1.8 10 km NNE of East Foothills, California
  8. 1.6 3 km WSW of San Juan Bautista, California
  9. 2.6 3 km WSW of San Juan Bautista, California
  10. 1.9 5 km SSW of Gilroy, California
  11. 1.5 1 km S of Livermore, California
  12. 2.1 8 km N of East Foothills, California
  13. 1.5 5 km SSW of Gilroy, California
  14. 2.2 5 km SSW of Gilroy, California
  15. 1.6 14 km N of Morgan Hill, 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

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