Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Diablo, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Diablo in the 24 hours to 3:51 am PST (11:51 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 18 km (11 mi) NNW, at 1:23 am PST on 2 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 39 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Diablo
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded in Diablo, CA, at 11:01 am PDT on 7 May 2018 (18:01 UTC), 7.8 km deep.
USGS: 1km ENE of Diablo, CA
8 km (5 mi) NNW of San Ramon, CA · 42 km (26 mi) E of San Francisco, CA
- When
- 11:01 am PDT on 7 May 2018 ()
- Where
- in Diablo, CA · earthquakes near Diablo
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 7.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Contra Costa County, 9 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Pleasanton 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 3108 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Diablo, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Diablo, 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Danville 5 km, intensity II · San Ramon 7 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 4.4 on 2018-01-04 — about 19,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 16 km E of this epicentre
- 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 46 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.5 6 km NNE of East Foothills, California · 48 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 24 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 16 km E 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 37.8380, -121.9508. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contra Costa County, CA | 9 km (6 mi) | N | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Alameda County, CA | 21 km (13 mi) | S | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Solano County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | N | earthquakes near Solano County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 60 km (37 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | E | earthquakes near San Joaquin County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 2km SSW of Dublin, CA
- 2.3 5km ESE of Blackhawk, CA
- 2.2 10km NNE of Livermore, CA
- 2.6 2km W of Concord, CA
- 1.8 4km SW of Livermore, CA
- 1.6 9km NNE of Livermore, CA
- 1.6 3km N of Piedmont, CA
- 2.9 12km SE of Suisun City, CA
- 2.9 15km ESE of Suisun City, CA
- 2.2 8km SE of Suisun City, CA
- 1.9 10km ESE of Black Point-Green Point, CA
- 3.7 10km ESE of Black Point-Green Point, CA
- 1.8 8km SE of Suisun City, CA
- 1.6 14km ENE of Milpitas, CA
- 1.5 5km NNE of Fremont, 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.