QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Fairfield, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Fairfield in the 24 hours to 2:45 am PST (10:45 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 18 km (11 mi) W, at 10:47 am PDT on 6 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Fairfield

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Fairfield, CA, at 2:57 am PDT on 28 July 2018 (09:57 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 8km SE of Suisun City, CA

10 km (6 mi) SE of Fairfield, CA · 62 km (39 mi) NE of San Francisco, CA

2:57 am PDT, Jul 28, 2018 · · 1.0 km deep · released about 14 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Solano County 7 kmContra Costa County 31 kmNapa County 47 kmYolo County 53 kmSacramento County 60 kmAlameda County 62 kmSan Joaquin County 66 kmMarin County 72 kmSonoma County 92 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
2:57 am PDT on 28 July 2018 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) southeast of Fairfield, CA · earthquakes near Fairfield
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
1.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Solano County, 7 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 10 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 3024 days ago

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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Fairfield, 10 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: Suisun 9 km, intensity II · Fairfield 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 8,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 32 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 43 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 12 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 46 km SSE 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 38.2015, -121.9498. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Solano County, CA 7 km (5 mi) N earthquakes near Solano County
Contra Costa County, CA 31 km (19 mi) S earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Napa County, CA 47 km (29 mi) NW earthquakes near Napa County
Yolo County, CA 53 km (33 mi) N earthquakes near Yolo County
Sacramento County, CA 60 km (37 mi) ENE earthquakes near Sacramento County
Alameda County, CA 62 km (38 mi) S earthquakes near Alameda County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.4 2km NW of Pittsburg, CA
  2. 2.5 1km WNW of Crockett, CA
  3. 1.8 9km ENE of Napa, CA
  4. 2.3 3km E of Pacheco, CA
  5. 2.3 3km ENE of Oakland, CA
  6. 1.6 1km ESE of East Richmond Heights, CA
  7. 2.5 3km ENE of Oakland, CA
  8. 1.7 2km NNW of Crockett, CA
  9. 2.4 1km NW of Crockett, CA
  10. 1.7 6km NE of Blackhawk, CA
  11. 1.6 2km NW of Crockett, CA
  12. 2.7 2km NW of Crockett, CA
  13. 3.5 2km NW of Crockett, CA
  14. 2.0 4km E of El Sobrante, CA
  15. 1.6 2km W of Diablo, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.