QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Soledad, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Soledad in the 24 hours to 2:37 am PST (10:37 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) N, at 2:58 pm PDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Soledad

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) east-northeast of Soledad, CA, at 8:09 pm PST on 10 March 2018 (04:09 UTC), 6.9 km deep.

USGS: 7km ENE of Pinnacles, CA

53 km (33 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA · 106 km (66 mi) SE of San Jose, CA

8:09 pm PST, Mar 10, 2018 · · 6.9 km deep · released about 18 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 7 kmMonterey County 41 kmMerced County 78 kmSanta Clara County 93 kmSanta Cruz County 98 kmStanislaus County 113 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
8:09 pm PST on 10 March 2018 ()
Where
27 km (17 mi) east-northeast of Soledad, CA · earthquakes near Soledad
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
6.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 7 km N
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas 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 3165 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Soledad, 27 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: Greenfield.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 18 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 840,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 53× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 18 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 12,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 42 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 25 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 21 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 38 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 44 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 36.5472, -121.0698. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 7 km (5 mi) N earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 41 km (25 mi) SSW earthquakes near Monterey County
Merced County, CA 78 km (49 mi) NNE earthquakes near Merced County
Santa Clara County, CA 93 km (58 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 98 km (61 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Stanislaus County, CA 113 km (70 mi) N earthquakes near Stanislaus County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 15km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
  2. 1.9 14km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
  3. 2.0 8km NE of Ridgemark, CA
  4. 1.5 14km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
  5. 1.6 15km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
  6. 1.6 12km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 2.4 23km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 2.0 19km NNE of New Idria, CA
  9. 1.9 22km NNE of San Lucas, CA
  10. 3.3 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 2.3 10km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 1.8 7km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 1.8 5km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 2.2 15km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
  15. 2.1 11km SE of Pinnacles, 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.