Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Pacheco, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Pacheco in the 24 hours to 1:37 pm PST (21:37 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 5 km (3 mi) S, at 4:05 am PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Pacheco
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded in Pacheco, CA, at 1:55 pm PST on 29 December 2018 (21:55 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 1km E of Pacheco, CA
6 km (4 mi) W of Concord, CA
- When
- 1:55 pm PST on 29 December 2018 ()
- Where
- in Pacheco, CA · earthquakes near Pacheco
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Contra Costa County, 12 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Concord 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 2806 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Pacheco, 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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Pacheco in town, intensity II · Concord 3 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 9,400 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 50 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 34 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 30 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 38 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 41 km SE 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 37.9820, -122.0652. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contra Costa County, CA | 12 km (8 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Solano County, CA | 34 km (21 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Alameda County, CA | 40 km (25 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Marin County, CA | 60 km (37 mi) | W | earthquakes near Marin County |
| Napa County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Napa County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
40 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 10km ESE of Black Point-Green Point, CA
- 2.5 9km ESE of Black Point-Green Point, CA
- 2.8 9km ESE of Black Point-Green Point, CA
- 2.3 2km SSE of Concord, CA
- 2.0 3km E of Union City, CA
- 1.7 5km WNW of Sunol, CA
- 1.7 2km NNW of San Leandro, CA
- 1.7 3km WNW of Diablo, CA
- 1.8 2km E of Berkeley, CA
- 1.6 5km SW of Pacheco, CA
- 2.7 3km NNE of San Ramon, CA
- 2.4 1km N of Vine Hill, CA
- 2.8 3km NE of Oakland, CA
- 2.0 1km NNE of Pacheco, CA
- 1.5 3km ESE of Berkeley, 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.