QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

Earthquake near San Jose, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in San Jose in the 24 hours to 3:55 am PST (11:55 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 2.9 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) east-southeast of San Jose, CA, at 11:22 pm PST on 25 January 2018 (07:22 UTC), 6.1 km deep. 77 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 16km E of Seven Trees, CA

13 km (8 mi) E of San Jose, CA

11:22 pm PST, Jan 25, 2018 · · 6.1 km deep · released about 780 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Jose Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Clara County 8 kmSanta Cruz County 43 kmAlameda County 45 kmSan Mateo County 64 kmStanislaus County 66 kmContra Costa County 74 kmSan Joaquin County 80 kmMerced County 84 kmSan Benito County 91 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
11:22 pm PST on 25 January 2018 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) east-southeast of San Jose, CA · earthquakes near San Jose
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
6.1 km below the surface
Felt
77 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Santa Clara County, 8 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Calaveras fault, under 1 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 3206 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 33 km (21 mi) from the epicentre. In San Jose, 21 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: Morgan Hill 18 km, intensity II · San Jose 21 km, intensity II · Campbell 25 km, intensity II · Milpitas 26 km, intensity II · Santa Clara 27 km, intensity II · Los Gatos 28 km, intensity II · Saratoga 32 km, intensity II · Gilroy 33 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 780 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 19,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 780 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 53 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 34 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 20 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 12 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 3 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 16 km SW 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 37.2902, -121.6635. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Clara County, CA 8 km (5 mi) SSW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 43 km (27 mi) SW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Alameda County, CA 45 km (28 mi) NNW earthquakes near Alameda County
San Mateo County, CA 64 km (40 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Stanislaus County, CA 66 km (41 mi) ENE earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Contra Costa County, CA 74 km (46 mi) NNW earthquakes near Contra Costa 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. 2.4 10km NNW of Hollister, CA
  2. 3.8 9km NNE of Alum Rock, CA
  3. 1.8 8km WSW of Gilroy, CA
  4. 1.8 13km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  5. 1.8 15km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  6. 1.7 9km ENE of San Martin, CA
  7. 1.9 9km NE of Milpitas, CA
  8. 1.6 3km ENE of Aromas, CA
  9. 1.7 5km SW of Gilroy, CA
  10. 1.7 5km WSW of Cupertino, CA
  11. 2.6 5km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  12. 2.3 5km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  13. 2.8 5km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  14. 3.0 5km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  15. 2.0 9km NE 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.