QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near San Martin, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in San Martin in the 24 hours to 4:09 am PST (12:09 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 17 km (10 mi) SE, at 7:27 pm PST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Martin

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) east-northeast of San Martin, CA, at 5:57 am PST on 30 January 2018 (13:57 UTC), 4.3 km deep. 16 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 8km ENE of San Martin, CA

13 km (8 mi) NNE of Gilroy, CA · 31 km (19 mi) SE of San Jose, CA

5:57 am PST, Jan 30, 2018 · · 4.3 km deep · released about 200 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Clara County 17 kmSanta Cruz County 43 kmAlameda County 67 kmStanislaus County 68 kmSan Benito County 70 kmMerced County 73 kmSan Mateo County 81 kmSan Joaquin County 94 kmContra Costa County 96 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
5:57 am PST on 30 January 2018 ()
Where
7 km (5 mi) east-northeast of San Martin, CA · earthquakes near San Martin
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
4.3 km below the surface
Felt
16 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Santa Clara County, 17 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Calaveras fault, 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 3207 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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In San Martin, 7 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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 10 km, intensity III · Gilroy 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 75,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 53,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 200 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 200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 28 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 32 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 9 km W of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 30 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 24 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 25 km WNW 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 37.1210, -121.5393. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Clara County, CA 17 km (11 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 43 km (27 mi) WSW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Alameda County, CA 67 km (42 mi) NNW earthquakes near Alameda County
Stanislaus County, CA 68 km (42 mi) NE earthquakes near Stanislaus County
San Benito County, CA 70 km (43 mi) SE earthquakes near San Benito County
Merced County, CA 73 km (45 mi) E earthquakes near Merced County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 5km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  2. 2.3 5km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  3. 2.8 5km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  4. 3.0 5km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  5. 2.0 9km NE of Gilroy, CA
  6. 2.6 9km NE of Gilroy, CA
  7. 2.5 7km WSW of Gilroy, CA
  8. 2.0 8km WSW of Gilroy, CA
  9. 1.6 2km E of Aromas, CA
  10. 1.8 27km WSW of Westley, CA
  11. 1.8 11km NNW of Hollister, CA
  12. 2.8 5km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  13. 1.7 4km WNW of San Juan Bautista, 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.