QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Rio Vista, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Rio Vista in the 24 hours to 7:18 pm PST (03:18 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 35 km (22 mi) SSW, at 12:25 am PDT on 12 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 257 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Rio Vista

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) northwest of Rio Vista, CA, at 10:53 pm PDT on 27 May 2019 (05:53 UTC), 22 km deep.

USGS: 10km NW of Rio Vista, CA

74 km (46 mi) NE of San Francisco, CA · 22 km (14 mi) ESE of Fairfield, CA

10:53 pm PDT, May 27, 2019 · · 22 km deep · released about 38 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Solano County 15 kmContra Costa County 36 kmSacramento County 47 kmYolo County 53 kmSan Joaquin County 55 kmNapa County 57 kmAlameda County 64 kmMarin County 86 kmSutter County 92 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
10:53 pm PDT on 27 May 2019 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) northwest of Rio Vista, CA · earthquakes near Rio Vista
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
22 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Solano County, 15 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 16 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 2725 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 Rio Vista, 10 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: Suisun, Pittsburg, Fairfield, Antioch, Vacaville, Walnut Grove.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 38 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 390,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 25× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 38 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 46 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 42 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 14 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 45 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 38.2145, -121.7855. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Solano County, CA 15 km (9 mi) WNW earthquakes near Solano County
Contra Costa County, CA 36 km (22 mi) SSW earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Sacramento County, CA 47 km (29 mi) NE earthquakes near Sacramento County
Yolo County, CA 53 km (33 mi) N earthquakes near Yolo County
San Joaquin County, CA 55 km (34 mi) SE earthquakes near San Joaquin County
Napa County, CA 57 km (36 mi) NW earthquakes near Napa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 0km W of Pleasant Hill, CA
  2. 4.5 1km SSE of Pleasant Hill, CA
  3. 2.5 1km S of Pleasant Hill, CA
  4. 1.7 1km SSW of Pleasant Hill, CA
  5. 1.9 4km SSW of Vallejo, CA
  6. 1.6 3km SW of Clayton, CA
  7. 2.3 3km NE of Orinda, CA
  8. 1.8 3km WNW of Lafayette, CA
  9. 1.8 3km NE of Orinda, CA
  10. 1.9 3km NE of Orinda, CA
  11. 1.9 3km NE of Orinda, CA
  12. 1.9 3km NE of Orinda, CA
  13. 2.2 3km NE of Orinda, CA
  14. 1.6 2km WNW of Pittsburg, CA
  15. 1.7 3km E of Alamo, 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.