Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Watsonville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Watsonville in the 24 hours to 8:20 pm PST (04:20 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 15 km (9 mi) ESE, at 6:10 am PDT on 26 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 6 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Watsonville
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) east-northeast of Watsonville, CA, at 3:37 am PDT on 23 July 2017 (10:37 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: Central California
8 km (5 mi) E of Watsonville, CA · 42 km (26 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 3:37 am PDT on 23 July 2017 ()
- Where
- 7 km (5 mi) east-northeast of Watsonville, CA · earthquakes near Watsonville
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Cruz County, 30 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Zayante-Vergeles fault, 4 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 3389 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Watsonville, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Watsonville, CA. No account or email needed.
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 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Watsonville, 7 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.
Likely felt in: Watsonville 7 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 870,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 620,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 55× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.2 on 2016-07-19 — about 3,700 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 34 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 21 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 20 km N of this epicentre
- 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 42 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 42 km N 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 36.9360, -121.6805. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 30 km (19 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 32 km (20 mi) | N | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| San Benito County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 81 km (50 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Alameda County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Monterey County, CA | 84 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
41 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 5 km ESE of Interlaken, California
- 1.5 6 km ESE of Prunedale, California
- 2.3 11 km S of Tres Pinos, California
- 1.9 Northern California
- 1.7 5 km SSW of Tres Pinos, California
- 2.0 2 km S of San Juan Bautista, California
- 1.8 3 km S of San Juan Bautista, California
- 2.6 9 km SSW of Ridgemark, California
- 1.9 10 km SSW of Ridgemark, California
- 1.8 5 km SSE of San Juan Bautista, California
- 2.4 8 km SSW of Tres Pinos, California
- 1.8 3 km ESE of Tres Pinos, California
- 2.9 2 km SSW of San Juan Bautista, California
- 2.7 2 km SW of San Juan Bautista, California
- 2.6 9 km ENE 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
- 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.