Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.6mw
Earthquake near Gilroy, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Gilroy in the 24 hours to 4:27 pm PST (00:27 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 9 km (6 mi) E, at 7:27 pm PST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Gilroy
This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south of Gilroy, CA, at 6:58 am PST on 26 February 2017 (14:58 UTC), 4.5 km deep. 664 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 5 km S of Gilroy, California
5 km (3 mi) S of Gilroy, CA · 43 km (27 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 6:58 am PST on 26 February 2017 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) south of Gilroy, CA · earthquakes near Gilroy
- Magnitude
- M 3.6 (mw)
- Depth
- 4.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- 664 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Santa Clara County, 31 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Sargent fault, 3 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 1786 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Gilroy, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 69 km (43 mi) from the epicentre. In Gilroy, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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.
Likely felt in: Gilroy 5 km, intensity IV · Watsonville 17 km, intensity III · Hollister 19 km, intensity III · Morgan Hill 20 km, intensity III · Prunedale 22 km, intensity III · Salinas 32 km, intensity II · Capitola 34 km, intensity II · Live Oak 36 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 3.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 45,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.8 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7.9× more
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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.2 on 2016-07-19 — about 8.5 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 30 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 28 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 18 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 43 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 40 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 33 km NW 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 36.9590, -121.5757. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County, CA | 31 km (19 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| San Benito County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Merced County, CA | 80 km (50 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Alameda County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Monterey County, CA | 83 km (52 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Monterey County |
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.
- 2.1 3 km ESE of Aromas, California
- 1.6 4 km ESE of Aromas, California
- 3.2 5 km ESE of Aromas, California
- 4.0 2 km ESE of Aromas, California
- 1.8 14 km E of Seven Trees, California
- 1.6 3 km WSW of San Juan Bautista, California
- 2.6 3 km WSW of San Juan Bautista, California
- 1.9 5 km SSW of Gilroy, California
- 1.5 16km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 16 km SE of Tres Pinos, California
- 2.0 17 km SSE of Tres Pinos, California
- 1.9 17 km SSE of Tres Pinos, California
- 2.7 4 km S of San Juan Bautista, California
- 1.9 13 km S of Tres Pinos, California
- 1.7 6 km ESE of Prunedale, 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
- 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.