QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Santa Cruz, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Cruz in the 24 hours to 7:54 pm PST (03:54 UTC). The last one was M 3.9, 87 km (54 mi) ESE, at 3:19 am PDT on 11 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 34 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Santa Cruz

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 30 km (19 mi) southwest of Santa Cruz, CA, at 2:00 am PDT on 22 September 2019 (09:00 UTC), 7.0 km deep.

USGS: 30km SW of Santa Cruz, CA

70 km (43 mi) SW of San Jose, CA · 30 km (18 mi) SW of Santa Cruz, CA

2:00 am PDT, Sep 22, 2019 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Cruz 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
2:00 am PDT on 22 September 2019 ()
Where
30 km (19 mi) southwest of Santa Cruz, CA · earthquakes near Santa Cruz
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Cruz County, 34 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
San Gregorio fault, 10 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

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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Cruz, 30 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.

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.

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 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 44 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 6 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 16 km SW of Davenport, California · 16 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 7 km NNW of Boulder Creek, California · 46 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 Monterey Bay area, California · 15 km E 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 36.7885, -122.2730. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Cruz County, CA 34 km (21 mi) NE earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
San Mateo County, CA 70 km (44 mi) N earthquakes near San Mateo County
Santa Clara County, CA 71 km (44 mi) NE earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Alameda County, CA 101 km (63 mi) NNE earthquakes near Alameda County
Monterey County, CA 105 km (65 mi) SE earthquakes near Monterey County
San Benito County, CA 108 km (67 mi) E 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.