Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Salinas, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 12:49 am PST (08:49 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 18 km (11 mi) ENE, at 5:38 am PDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Salinas
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) east of Salinas, CA, at 4:03 am PDT on 11 April 2018 (11:03 UTC), 6.8 km deep.
USGS: 12km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
93 km (58 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 41 km (25 mi) E of Salinas, CA
- When
- 4:03 am PDT on 11 April 2018 ()
- Where
- 42 km (26 mi) east of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 6.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 9 km ESE
- 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 3128 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Salinas, CA
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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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 42 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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, Soledad, Gonzales.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.8 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 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 29,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 12 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 7 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 30 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 12 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 3 km ENE of Tres Pinos, California · 21 km NNW 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 36.6325, -121.1853. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 9 km (6 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 4km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.7 9km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 10km SSW of Ridgemark, CA
- 1.6 16km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 16km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.2 10km NNW of Hollister, CA
- 2.4 2km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.6 10km NNW of Hollister, CA
- 1.9 7km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 3km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.7 3km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 16km NE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.5 2km NE 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.