Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near American Canyon, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in American Canyon in the 24 hours to 12:17 am PST (08:17 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 8 km (5 mi) ESE, at 11:09 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near American Canyon
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) south-southeast of American Canyon, CA, at 12:36 pm PDT on 13 September 2019 (19:36 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 2km SSE of American Canyon, CA
5 km (3 mi) NNE of Vallejo, CA
- When
- 12:36 pm PDT on 13 September 2019 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) south-southeast of American Canyon, CA · earthquakes near American Canyon
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Solano County, 30 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- West Napa 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 2606 days ago
Earthquake alerts for American Canyon, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near American Canyon, CA. No account or email needed.
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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In American Canyon, 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.
Likely felt in: Vallejo 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 12 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 9,100 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 9 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 35 km ENE 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 38.1543, -122.2488. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solano County, CA | 30 km (19 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 37 km (23 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Napa County, CA | 40 km (25 mi) | N | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Marin County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Marin County |
| Alameda County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Yolo County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Yolo 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.
- 2.0 7km WSW of St. Helena, CA
- 1.7 14km E of Angwin, CA
- 1.8 14km E of Angwin, CA
- 1.9 5km NNW of Pittsburg, CA
- 1.7 14km E of Angwin, CA
- 2.4 6km N of Diablo, CA
- 1.6 1km WNW of Pleasant Hill, CA
- 3.2 0km WNW of Pleasant Hill, CA
- 1.8 1km NW of Pleasant Hill, CA
- 1.7 1km SSW of Pleasant Hill, CA
- 2.6 1km SSW of Pleasant Hill, CA
- 2.1 1km S of Pleasant Hill, CA
- 1.7 1km SSW of Pleasant Hill, CA
- 1.6 1km SSW of Pleasant Hill, CA
- 2.0 1km SSE of Pleasant 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
- 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.