Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0md
Earthquake near Soledad, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Soledad in the 24 hours to 8:13 am PST (16:13 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 3.0 earthquake was recorded 30 km (19 mi) east of Soledad, CA, at 5:51 pm PDT on 24 March 2018 (00:51 UTC), 6.6 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 19km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- When
- 5:51 pm PDT on 24 March 2018 ()
- Where
- 30 km (19 mi) east of Soledad, CA · earthquakes near Soledad
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (md)
- Depth
- 6.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- 4 reports · strongest reported intensity V
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 24 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas 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 3069 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Soledad, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Soledad, 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 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 35 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Soledad, 30 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: Greenfield 25 km, intensity II · King City 26 km, intensity II · Soledad 30 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 890 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 380,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 17,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 890 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 250 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 36 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 37 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 23 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 41 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 36.4152, -120.9865. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 24 km (15 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 35 km (22 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Kings County, CA | 112 km (69 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 113 km (70 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 13km SW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 3.0 23km NNE of San Ardo, CA
- 1.7 8km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 12km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 7km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.5 3km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.3 11km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.2 20km SW of New Idria, CA
- 1.5 24km ENE of San Lucas, CA
- 1.5 11km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 22km NNE of San Ardo, CA
- 3.1 23km NNE of San Ardo, CA
- 1.8 10km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 4km NNW 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
- 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.