Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Berkeley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Berkeley in the 24 hours to 1:25 am PST (09:25 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 2 km (2 mi) E, at 6:31 pm PST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Berkeley
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Berkeley, CA, at 2:13 pm PST on 2 March 2019 (22:13 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 3km ESE of Berkeley, CA
18 km (11 mi) ENE of San Francisco, CA · 5 km (3 mi) ESE of Berkeley, CA
- When
- 2:13 pm PST on 2 March 2019 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Berkeley, CA · earthquakes near Berkeley
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Contra Costa County, 26 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Hayward fault, under 1 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 2809 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Berkeley, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Berkeley, 3 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Piedmont, Emeryville, Orinda, Albany, Oakland, Kensington.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 21,000 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 · 30 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 40 km N of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 42 km E of this epicentre
- 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 48 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.3 The 1957 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 30 km SW 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 37.8565, -122.2407. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contra Costa County, CA | 26 km (16 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Alameda County, CA | 37 km (23 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Marin County, CA | 49 km (31 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Marin County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Solano County, CA | 53 km (33 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Solano County |
| San Francisco County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Francisco County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 3km ESE of Berkeley, CA
- 2.1 2km NNE of Pacifica, CA
- 1.9 2km SSE of Crockett, CA
- 1.6 4km NNW of Pacifica, CA
- 1.8 2km ENE of Pleasant Hill, CA
- 2.2 3km WSW of American Canyon, CA
- 1.9 2km NNW of Crockett, CA
- 2.4 2km NNE of Pacifica, CA
- 2.1 2km WNW of Vallejo, CA
- 1.6 8km NNW of Bay Point, CA
- 1.5 8km NNW of Bay Point, CA
- 2.1 4km ENE of Oakland, CA
- 1.5 8km S of Muir Beach, CA
- 1.8 3km WSW of Muir Beach, CA
- 2.2 6km E of Fremont, 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.