Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Livermore, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Livermore in the 24 hours to 3:52 am PST (11:52 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 12 km (8 mi) SE, at 8:52 am PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Livermore
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) southeast of Livermore, CA, at 4:24 am PST on 9 January 2018 (12:24 UTC), 8.4 km deep.
USGS: 9km SE of Livermore, CA
9 km (6 mi) SE of Livermore, CA · 39 km (24 mi) NNE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 4:24 am PST on 9 January 2018 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) southeast of Livermore, CA · earthquakes near Livermore
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 8.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alameda County, 20 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Greenville 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 3226 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Livermore, 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 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Livermore, 9 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Pleasanton, Mountain House, Dublin, Tracy, Byron, Fremont.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 4.1 on 2017-10-10 — about 6,900 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 38 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 36 km S of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 49 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 24 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 17 km S 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 37.6298, -121.6885. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | 20 km (12 mi) | W | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 40 km (25 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | S | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Joaquin County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | E | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 65 km (40 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 2km WSW of Diablo, CA
- 2.8 2km WSW of Diablo, CA
- 2.0 2km WSW of Diablo, CA
- 1.7 2km W of Diablo, CA
- 2.1 2km WSW of Diablo, CA
- 1.7 2km WSW of Diablo, CA
- 2.6 2km W of Diablo, CA
- 2.1 2km W of Diablo, CA
- 1.8 2km W of Diablo, CA
- 2.3 2km WSW of Diablo, CA
- 1.7 2km E of Hayward, CA
- 1.5 2km WNW of Diablo, CA
- 1.6 1km W of Diablo, CA
- 1.5 1km WSW of Diablo, CA
- 1.7 1km WSW of Diablo, CA
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.