QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near San Jose, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in San Jose in the 24 hours to 6:54 am PST (14:54 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 19 km (12 mi) E, at 12:38 pm PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Jose

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) southeast of San Jose, CA, at 4:15 pm PST on 14 January 2018 (00:15 UTC), 8.7 km deep.

USGS: 7km SE of Seven Trees, CA

7 km (4 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA

4:15 pm PST, Jan 14, 2018 · · 8.7 km deep · released about 5.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Jose Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Clara County 9 kmSanta Cruz County 31 kmAlameda County 47 kmSan Mateo County 55 kmContra Costa County 77 kmStanislaus County 79 kmSan Joaquin County 90 kmSan Benito County 93 kmMerced County 95 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
4:15 pm PST on 14 January 2018 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) southeast of San Jose, CA · earthquakes near San Jose
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
8.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Clara County, 9 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Monte Vista-Shannon 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 3220 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In San Jose, 15 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: Campbell, Los Gatos, East Foothills, Morgan Hill, Monte Sereno, Lexington Hills.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.6 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 7,400 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 25 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 23 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 19 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 7 km N of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 13 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 4 km SSW 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 37.2347, -121.7903. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Clara County, CA 9 km (6 mi) E earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 31 km (19 mi) SW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Alameda County, CA 47 km (29 mi) NNW earthquakes near Alameda County
San Mateo County, CA 55 km (34 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Contra Costa County, CA 77 km (48 mi) N earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Stanislaus County, CA 79 km (49 mi) ENE earthquakes near Stanislaus County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 5km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  2. 3.0 5km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  3. 2.0 9km NE of Gilroy, CA
  4. 2.6 9km NE of Gilroy, CA
  5. 2.5 7km WSW of Gilroy, CA
  6. 2.0 8km WSW of Gilroy, CA
  7. 1.6 2km E of Aromas, CA
  8. 1.8 27km WSW of Westley, CA
  9. 1.6 10km NE of Milpitas, CA
  10. 1.8 11km NNW of Hollister, CA
  11. 2.8 5km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  12. 1.7 4km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  13. 1.8 3km NNE of Fremont, CA
  14. 2.4 5km ESE of Interlaken, CA
  15. 1.5 5km SSW of Gilroy, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.