Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.8mw
Earthquake near Hollister, CA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Hollister in the last 24 hours. M 2.6, 21 km (13 mi) WNW of Hollister, at 11:40 am PST on 12 November 2026 (19:40 UTC); the estimated shaking in Hollister was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Hollister
This page: a magnitude 3.8 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) south-southeast of Hollister, CA, at 6:29 am PDT on 5 October 2018 (13:29 UTC), 11 km deep. 629 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 5km SW of Tres Pinos, CA
73 km (45 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 26 km (16 mi) ENE of Salinas, CA
- When
- 6:29 am PDT on 5 October 2018 ()
- Where
- 12 km (7 mi) south-southeast of Hollister, CA · earthquakes near Hollister
- Magnitude
- M 3.8 (mw)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 629 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 29 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Calaveras fault, 3 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 2890 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hollister, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Hollister, 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 84 km (52 mi) from the epicentre. In Hollister, 12 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Hollister 12 km, intensity III · Salinas 28 km, intensity III · Prunedale 28 km, intensity III · Gilroy 34 km, intensity III · Soledad 37 km, intensity III · Watsonville 40 km, intensity II · Greenfield 49 km, intensity II · Morgan Hill 50 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.4 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 20,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.8 about 8.4 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 18× more
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 13 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 12 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 38 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 13 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 41 km NNW 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 36.7533, -121.3537. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 29 km (18 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 57 km (36 mi) | S | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 60 km (37 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 65 km (40 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Merced County, CA | 75 km (46 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.7 8km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.6 14km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.8 12km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.1 13km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.6 16km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.0 13km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.5 13km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.8 12km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.6 19km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.5 13km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.6 10km NE of Gilroy, CA
- 2.6 12km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.8 11km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.0 13km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.9 13km S of Tres Pinos, 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.