Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Salinas, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 3:20 am PST (11:20 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 48 km (30 mi) east-southeast of Salinas, CA, at 12:57 pm PDT on 15 April 2018 (19:57 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 5km N of Pinnacles, CA
46 km (29 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA · 100 km (62 mi) SE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 12:57 pm PDT on 15 April 2018 ()
- Where
- 48 km (30 mi) east-southeast of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 6 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 2 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 3124 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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 48 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: Soledad, Gonzales, Greenfield.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.3 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 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 31,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 49 km E of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 19 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 15 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 45 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 37 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 36.5752, -121.1368. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 6 km (4 mi) | NE | 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 | 87 km (54 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 92 km (57 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 110 km (69 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 2km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 10km SSW of Ridgemark, CA
- 2.7 10km SSW of Ridgemark, CA
- 2.3 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 3km SSW of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 2.3 3km SSW of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.8 14km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 17km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 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
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.