Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Hollister, CA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Hollister in the last 24 hours. M 2.6, 21 km (13 mi) WNW of Hollister, at 11:40 am PST on 12 November 2026 (19:40 UTC); the estimated shaking in Hollister was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Hollister
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) northeast of Hollister, CA, at 5:37 am PDT on 12 March 2018 (12:37 UTC), 1.7 km deep.
USGS: 27km NE of Hollister, CA
62 km (39 mi) ESE of San Jose, CA · 35 km (22 mi) E of Gilroy, CA
- When
- 5:37 am PDT on 12 March 2018 ()
- Where
- 27 km (17 mi) northeast of Hollister, CA · earthquakes near Hollister
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 1.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Merced County, 46 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Ortigalita 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 3166 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hollister, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Hollister, CA. No account or email needed.
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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Hollister, 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: Ridgemark.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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 25,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 33 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 46 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 40 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 29 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 37.0292, -121.1943. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merced County, CA | 46 km (28 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| San Benito County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 49 km (30 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 62 km (38 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Monterey County, CA | 88 km (55 mi) | S | earthquakes near Monterey County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 14km N of Morgan Hill, CA
- 1.9 12km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 11km NNW of Hollister, CA
- 2.7 11km NNW of Hollister, CA
- 2.3 14km SSW of Westley, CA
- 1.6 14km SSW of Westley, CA
- 2.1 4km ESE of Aromas, CA
- 2.1 8km E of Gilroy, CA
- 2.4 8km E of Gilroy, CA
- 2.3 14km SW of Westley, CA
- 1.5 5km SSW of Ridgemark, CA
- 1.8 9km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.4 10km NNW of Hollister, CA
- 1.8 8km WSW of Gilroy, CA
- 1.6 15km SSE 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.