Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Pacheco, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Pacheco in the 24 hours to 4:28 am PST (12:28 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southwest of Pacheco, CA, at 1:18 pm PDT on 14 March 2019 (20:18 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 5km SW of Pacheco, CA
9 km (6 mi) NW of Walnut Creek, CA · 33 km (20 mi) NE of San Francisco, CA
- When
- 1:18 pm PDT on 14 March 2019 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) southwest of Pacheco, CA · earthquakes near Pacheco
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Contra Costa County, 15 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Concord fault, 7 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 2799 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Pacheco, 5 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: Pleasant Hill, Vine Hill, Contra Costa Centre, Waldon, Martinez, Acalanes Ridge.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.6 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 2,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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 4.4 on 2018-01-04 — about 17,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 44 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 33 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 34 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 43 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 43 km ESE 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 37.9585, -122.1202. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contra Costa County, CA | 15 km (10 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Solano County, CA | 38 km (23 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Alameda County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Marin County, CA | 56 km (35 mi) | W | earthquakes near Marin County |
| Napa County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Napa County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 64 km (40 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
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 8km WSW of Mountain House, CA
- 2.3 3km ESE of Berkeley, CA
- 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
- 2.4 11km NNE of Napa, CA
- 2.1 2km WNW of Vallejo, CA
- 2.7 12km NNE of Napa, CA
- 3.0 6km WNW of Mountain House, CA
- 1.6 8km NNW of Bay Point, 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.