QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Bonny Doon, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bonny Doon in the 24 hours to 2:37 am PST (10:37 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 79 km (49 mi) N, at 8:30 am PDT on 13 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7,876 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bonny Doon

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded in Bonny Doon, CA, at 9:02 am PDT on 22 April 2019 (16:02 UTC), 9.6 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 2km E of Bonny Doon, CA

11 km (7 mi) NW of Santa Cruz, CA · 40 km (25 mi) SW of San Jose, CA

9:02 am PDT, Apr 22, 2019 · · 9.6 km deep · released about 74 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bonny Doon Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Cruz County 11 kmSanta Clara County 44 kmSan Mateo County 47 kmAlameda County 70 kmContra Costa County 99 kmSan Benito County 104 kmSan Francisco County 110 kmMonterey County 115 kmStanislaus County 115 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
9:02 am PDT on 22 April 2019 ()
Where
in Bonny Doon, CA · earthquakes near Bonny Doon
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
9.6 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Santa Cruz County, 11 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Monterey Bay- Tularcitos fault, 9 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 2760 days ago

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 17 km (11 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: Boulder Creek 9 km, intensity II · Scotts Valley 10 km, intensity II · Santa Cruz 12 km, intensity II · Live Oak 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 74 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 74 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 4.0 on 2017-03-31 — about 410 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 22 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 44 km E of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 27 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.3 16 km SW of Davenport, California · 23 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 41 km NE 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 37.0422, -122.1283. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Cruz County, CA 11 km (7 mi) ESE earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Santa Clara County, CA 44 km (27 mi) ENE earthquakes near Santa Clara County
San Mateo County, CA 47 km (29 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Alameda County, CA 70 km (43 mi) NNE earthquakes near Alameda County
Contra Costa County, CA 99 km (61 mi) N earthquakes near Contra Costa County
San Benito County, CA 104 km (65 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Benito County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

35 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.7 5km NNW of Aromas, CA
  2. 1.6 7km WSW of Gilroy, CA
  3. 1.5 3km E of Aromas, CA
  4. 2.5 4km SW of Saratoga, CA
  5. 2.0 4km SW of Saratoga, CA
  6. 1.5 13km NNW of Boulder Creek, CA
  7. 1.8 32km WNW of Bonny Doon, CA
  8. 2.6 14km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  9. 1.9 7km E of Alum Rock, CA
  10. 1.9 5km S of Portola Valley, CA
  11. 1.6 6km NNW of Aromas, CA
  12. 1.6 3km E of Aromas, CA
  13. 1.5 2km WSW of Los Altos Hills, CA
  14. 2.8 6km SSW of Gilroy, CA
  15. 3.3 16km N of Morgan Hill, 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.