Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.1mw
Earthquake near Salinas, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 9:48 am PST (17:48 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 4.1 earthquake was recorded 30 km (19 mi) east of Salinas, CA, at 5:58 am PDT on 2 November 2018 (12:58 UTC), 6.5 km deep. 761 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 12km S of Tres Pinos, CA
82 km (51 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA · 28 km (18 mi) E of Salinas, CA
- When
- 5:58 am PDT on 2 November 2018 ()
- Where
- 30 km (19 mi) east of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
- Magnitude
- M 4.1 (mw)
- Depth
- 6.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- 761 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 22 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 2 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 288 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Salinas, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Salinas, 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 light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 105 km (65 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 30 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 21 km, intensity III · Soledad 28 km, intensity III · Salinas 30 km, intensity III · Prunedale 33 km, intensity III · Greenfield 40 km, intensity III · Gilroy 43 km, intensity III · Watsonville 47 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 22 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 7,700× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 340× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 240× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.1 about 22 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 46× 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 5.1 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 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 · 46 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 6 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 18 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 1 km ENE 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 36.6802, -121.3147. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 22 km (14 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 49 km (30 mi) | S | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Merced County, CA | 78 km (48 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 102 km (63 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 13km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.9 13km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.8 6km SW of Gilroy, CA
- 1.6 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.6 12km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.4 13km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.6 12km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 8km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 14km E of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.0 11km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.5 7km NNE of Greenfield, CA
- 1.9 12km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.1 14km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.8 12km ESE of Gilroy, CA
- 1.5 2km NE of Pinnacles, 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.