Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.6md
Earthquake near Vacaville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Vacaville in the 24 hours to 4:03 pm PST (00:03 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 68 km (42 mi) SSW, at 8:30 am PDT on 13 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7,876 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Vacaville
This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) east-southeast of Vacaville, CA, at 10:47 am PDT on 19 September 2018 (17:47 UTC), 20 km deep.
USGS: 6km SSE of Elmira, CA
11 km (7 mi) SE of Vacaville, CA · 46 km (29 mi) SW of Sacramento, CA
- When
- 10:47 am PDT on 19 September 2018 ()
- Where
- 12 km (7 mi) east-southeast of Vacaville, CA · earthquakes near Vacaville
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (md)
- Depth
- 20 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Solano County, 7 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 6 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 2976 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Vacaville, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Vacaville, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Vacaville, 12 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: Vacaville 12 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 260 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 59,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 42,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.7× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 260 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 39 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 2 km W 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 38.2985, -121.8750. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solano County, CA | 7 km (4 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Yolo County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | N | earthquakes near Yolo County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 43 km (27 mi) | S | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Napa County, CA | 46 km (28 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Sacramento County, CA | 49 km (31 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Sacramento County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Joaquin County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
38 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 2km SSE of Concord, CA
- 1.6 5km SW of Pacheco, CA
- 2.4 1km N of Vine Hill, CA
- 2.0 1km NNE of Pacheco, CA
- 2.0 12km NE of Napa, CA
- 2.0 10km ENE of Blackhawk, CA
- 1.9 10km ENE of Blackhawk, CA
- 2.2 10km ENE of Blackhawk, CA
- 3.7 6km SSW of Yountville, CA
- 2.1 1km N of Pacheco, CA
- 2.0 1km N of Pacheco, CA
- 1.8 13km E of Yountville, CA
- 1.5 1km N of Vine Hill, CA
- 2.0 2km W of Green Valley, CA
- 2.1 1km N of Vine Hill, 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.