QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

30km SW of Santa Cruz, CA

· 7.0 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Cruz County 34 kmSan Mateo County 70 kmSanta Clara County 71 kmAlameda County 101 kmMonterey County 105 kmSan Benito County 108 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
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Cruz County, 34 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2559 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 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 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 86× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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.

Where

Epicentre 36.7885, -122.2730. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Santa Cruz County, CA 34 km (21 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
San Mateo County, CA 70 km (44 mi) S of here earthquakes near San Mateo County
Santa Clara County, CA 71 km (44 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Alameda County, CA 101 km (63 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Alameda County
Monterey County, CA 105 km (65 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 108 km (67 mi) W of here earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 4 km ESE of Carmel By The Sea, CA
  2. 1.6 13 km SSW of Bonny Doon, CA
  3. 1.6 18 km SSW of Santa Cruz, CA
  4. 1.6 4 km SSW of Lexington Hills, CA
  5. 1.9 5km NNW of Day Valley, CA
  6. 1.7 4km SW of Felton, CA
  7. 1.8 6km NW of Pacific Grove, CA
  8. 1.5 1km WNW of Corralitos, CA
  9. 1.7 3km SSE of Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley, CA
  10. 2.1 10km SW of Bonny Doon, CA
  11. 2.4 13km WSW of Santa Cruz, CA
  12. 2.0 11km W of Moss Landing, CA
  13. 2.2 34km W of Bonny Doon, CA
  14. 1.9 11km SW of Bonny Doon, CA
  15. 1.6 12km NW of Pacific Grove, 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.