Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Salinas, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 3:25 pm PST (23:25 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 18 km (11 mi) ENE, at 5:38 am PDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Salinas
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 33 km (20 mi) east of Salinas, CA, at 6:52 pm PDT on 5 October 2018 (01:52 UTC), 3.7 km deep.
USGS: 14km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
85 km (53 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 31 km (19 mi) E of Salinas, CA
- When
- 6:52 pm PDT on 5 October 2018 ()
- Where
- 33 km (20 mi) east of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 3.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 19 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Calaveras fault, 4 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 2960 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Salinas, CA
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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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 33 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Ridgemark, Gonzales, Chualar, Hollister, Soledad.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.6 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 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 4.6 on 2017-11-13 — about 30,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 10 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 49 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 3 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 21 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 3 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 36.6627, -121.2863. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 19 km (12 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | S | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Merced County, CA | 78 km (48 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 103 km (64 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.
- 1.8 5km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 8km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 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
- 1.7 24km NE of King City, 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
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.