Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Salinas, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 2:06 pm PST (22:06 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 18 km (11 mi) ENE, at 5:38 am PDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Salinas
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) east of Salinas, CA, at 9:49 am PST on 18 January 2018 (17:49 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 15km SE of Tres Pinos, CA
86 km (53 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 41 km (25 mi) E of Salinas, CA
- When
- 9:49 am PST on 18 January 2018 ()
- Where
- 43 km (27 mi) east of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 14 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Tres Pinos 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 3219 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Salinas, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Salinas, 43 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Ridgemark, Hollister.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.7 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 2,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 4.6 on 2017-11-13 — about 39,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 4 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 8 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 26 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 11 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 3 km ENE of Tres Pinos, California · 14 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 36.7128, -121.1778. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 14 km (9 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 54 km (34 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 67 km (42 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 73 km (45 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 81 km (50 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 96 km (59 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus 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.
- 2.0 7km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.6 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 5km SSW of Gilroy, CA
- 1.6 3km E of Aromas, CA
- 1.7 10km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.6 21km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 24km NE of King City, CA
- 2.0 4km E of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.5 8km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.5 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 8km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.8 8km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.8 8km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.6 9km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 9km SSW of Tres Pinos, 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.