Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Oakland, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Oakland in the 24 hours to 5:07 am PST (13:07 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 7 km (4 mi) NNE, at 6:23 pm PST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 114 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Oakland
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) east of Oakland, CA, at 11:52 pm PDT on 23 May 2018 (06:52 UTC), 9.9 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 4km ENE of Oakland, CA
6 km (3 mi) NNE of Oakland, CA
- When
- 11:52 pm PDT on 23 May 2018 ()
- Where
- 7 km (4 mi) east of Oakland, CA · earthquakes near Oakland
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 9.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 3 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Contra Costa County, 24 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Hayward 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 3092 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Oakland, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Oakland, 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Oakland, 7 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: Piedmont, Moraga, Orinda, Alameda, Emeryville, Berkeley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.7 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 8.7 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 13,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 32 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 46 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 37 km E of this epicentre
- 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 43 km E of this epicentre
- 5.3 The 1957 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 30 km WSW 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 37.8123, -122.1927. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contra Costa County, CA | 24 km (15 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Alameda County, CA | 31 km (19 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Solano County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Marin County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Marin County |
| San Francisco County, CA | 74 km (46 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Francisco 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.
- 1.8 2km E of Alamo, CA
- 1.5 2km E of Alamo, CA
- 1.6 0km E of Pacifica, CA
- 1.9 9km S of Muir Beach, CA
- 1.6 9km ENE of Blackhawk, CA
- 1.7 2km SW of Concord, CA
- 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
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.