QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Kensington, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Kensington in the 24 hours to 10:38 pm PST (06:38 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 6 km (4 mi) SSE, at 6:23 pm PST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 114 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Kensington

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded in Kensington, CA, at 6:05 am PDT on 15 August 2017 (13:05 UTC), 5.1 km deep.

USGS: 0 km W of Kensington, California

19 km (12 mi) NE of San Francisco, CA · 5 km (3 mi) N of Berkeley, CA

6:05 am PDT, Aug 15, 2017 · · 5.1 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Kensington Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Contra Costa County 30 kmMarin County 43 kmAlameda County 44 kmSolano County 50 kmSan Mateo County 56 kmNapa County 66 kmSan Francisco County 68 kmSonoma County 88 kmSan Joaquin 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
6:05 am PDT on 15 August 2017 ()
Where
in Kensington, CA · earthquakes near Kensington
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
5.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Contra Costa County, 30 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Hayward fault, 5 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 3368 days ago

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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. 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: El Cerrito in town, intensity II · Berkeley 5 km, intensity II · Richmond 6 km, intensity II · San Pablo 7 km, intensity II · Orinda 10 km, intensity II · Pinole 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 29 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 34 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 46 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 The 1957 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 32 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 47 km ESE 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 37.9112, -122.2897. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Contra Costa County, CA 30 km (18 mi) E earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Marin County, CA 43 km (27 mi) WNW earthquakes near Marin County
Alameda County, CA 44 km (28 mi) SE earthquakes near Alameda County
Solano County, CA 50 km (31 mi) NE earthquakes near Solano County
San Mateo County, CA 56 km (35 mi) S earthquakes near San Mateo County
Napa County, CA 66 km (41 mi) N earthquakes near Napa 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 5km NNW of Pacifica, CA
  2. 2.2 5km NNW of Pacifica, CA
  3. 2.1 2km ENE of Berkeley, CA
  4. 1.6 2km E of Diablo, CA
  5. 1.6 6km ENE of Dublin, CA
  6. 1.6 6km ENE of El Granada, CA
  7. 2.6 2km NNE of San Leandro, CA
  8. 1.7 5km NNE of San Leandro, CA
  9. 2.4 1km E of Pacheco, CA
  10. 1.7 1 km N of North Fair Oaks, California
  11. 1.6 2 km NNW of Pleasant Hill, California
  12. 1.6 11 km S of Muir Beach, California
  13. 2.3 1 km E of Pacheco, California
  14. 2.1 7 km ENE of Fetters Hot Springs-Agua Caliente, California
  15. 2.3 2 km SSE of Dublin, 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.