QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

4 km NNW of Pacific Grove, California

· 8.4 km deep · released about 460 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Cruz County 40 kmSanta Clara County 67 kmMonterey County 72 kmSan Benito County 76 kmSan Mateo County 93 kmAlameda County 110 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 2.8 (md)
Depth
8.4 km below the surface
Felt
197 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Santa Cruz County, 40 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2666 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 197 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 460 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 33,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 23,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 460 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 36.6540, -121.9357. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Santa Cruz County, CA 40 km (25 mi) S of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Santa Clara County, CA 67 km (42 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Monterey County, CA 72 km (45 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 76 km (47 mi) W of here earthquakes near San Benito County
San Mateo County, CA 93 km (58 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near San Mateo County
Alameda County, CA 110 km (69 mi) S of here earthquakes near Alameda County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 5 km SSW of Gilroy, California
  2. 1.6 6 km S of Gilroy, California
  3. 1.6 6 km S of La Selva Beach, California
  4. 2.0 9 km SW of Ridgemark, California
  5. 2.1 5 km ESE of Aromas, California
  6. 1.6 0 km N of Pacific Grove, California
  7. 2.0 3 km ESE of Aromas, California
  8. 1.6 5 km S of Gilroy, California
  9. 2.0 2 km ESE of Aromas, California
  10. 1.9 2 km ESE of Aromas, California
  11. 1.7 5 km WNW of San Juan Bautista, California
  12. 1.5 Central California
  13. 1.7 5 km ESE of Aromas, California
  14. 2.9 3 km ESE of Aromas, California
  15. 1.9 3 km WSW of San Juan Bautista, 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.