QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Livermore, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Livermore in the 24 hours to 4:08 am PST (12:08 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 12 km (8 mi) SE, at 8:52 am PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Livermore

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) southeast of Livermore, CA, at 8:33 am PDT on 16 March 2019 (15:33 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 11km SE of Livermore, CA

11 km (7 mi) SE of Livermore, CA · 36 km (23 mi) NNE of San Jose, CA

8:33 am PDT, Mar 16, 2019 · · 15 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Livermore Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alameda County 21 kmContra Costa County 42 kmSanta Clara County 43 kmSan Joaquin County 52 kmStanislaus County 60 kmSan Mateo County 64 kmSanta Cruz County 72 kmSolano County 77 kmMerced County 97 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
8:33 am PDT on 16 March 2019 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) southeast of Livermore, CA · earthquakes near Livermore
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Alameda County, 21 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Greenville fault, 6 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 2795 days ago

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 Livermore, 11 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: Pleasanton, Mountain House, Dublin, Tracy, Fremont, East Foothills.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 4.1 on 2017-10-10 — about 4,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 35 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 33 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 46 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 27 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 14 km S 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 37.6058, -121.6853. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alameda County, CA 21 km (13 mi) WNW earthquakes near Alameda County
Contra Costa County, CA 42 km (26 mi) NW earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Santa Clara County, CA 43 km (27 mi) S earthquakes near Santa Clara County
San Joaquin County, CA 52 km (32 mi) NE earthquakes near San Joaquin County
Stanislaus County, CA 60 km (37 mi) E earthquakes near Stanislaus County
San Mateo County, CA 64 km (40 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Mateo 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. 3.3 16km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  2. 1.5 8km ENE of Alum Rock, CA
  3. 2.1 8km WSW of Mountain House, CA
  4. 1.5 16km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  5. 2.4 8km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  6. 1.6 16km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  7. 1.5 13km NNE of Morgan Hill, CA
  8. 2.5 8km ENE of Alum Rock, CA
  9. 2.2 8km ENE of Alum Rock, CA
  10. 2.0 8km ENE of Alum Rock, CA
  11. 1.8 2km ENE of Pleasant Hill, CA
  12. 1.5 18km WSW of Westley, CA
  13. 2.1 4km WNW of Mountain House, CA
  14. 3.0 6km WNW of Mountain House, CA
  15. 2.1 4km ENE of Oakland, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.