QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

22 km SSW of Santa Cruz, California

· 2.5 km deep · released about 460 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Cruz County 27 kmSanta Clara County 61 kmSan Mateo County 75 kmSan Benito County 91 kmMonterey County 91 kmAlameda County 98 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
2.5 km below the surface
Felt
7 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Santa Cruz County, 27 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3453 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 7 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 36.7782, -122.0845. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Santa Cruz County, CA 27 km (17 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Santa Clara County, CA 61 km (38 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Santa Clara County
San Mateo County, CA 75 km (47 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near San Mateo County
San Benito County, CA 91 km (57 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 91 km (57 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Monterey County
Alameda County, CA 98 km (61 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

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

  1. 1.6 7 km N of Boulder Creek, California
  2. 1.8 Central California
  3. 3.1 4 km ESE of Interlaken, California
  4. 2.9 4 km ESE of Interlaken, California
  5. 2.6 7 km WSW of Gilroy, California
  6. 1.5 5 km SSW of Gilroy, California
  7. 1.8 15 km NNW of Big Sur, California
  8. 1.6 1 km SE of Lexington Hills, California
  9. 1.9 7 km ENE of Interlaken, California
  10. 1.6 5 km SSW of Gilroy, California
  11. 2.5 5 km SSW of Gilroy, California
  12. 2.3 3 km ESE of Aromas, California
  13. 2.2 3 km ESE of Aromas, California
  14. 1.6 7 km ESE of Prunedale, California
  15. 1.6 5 km SSW of Gilroy, 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.