Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Fairview, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Fairview in the 24 hours to 12:48 am PST (08:48 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 6 km (4 mi) E, at 10:32 am PST on 2 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Fairview
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) northeast of Fairview, CA, at 3:15 pm PST on 1 January 2020 (23:15 UTC), 6.5 km deep.
USGS: 5km NE of Fairview, CA
9 km (5 mi) SW of San Ramon, CA · 38 km (24 mi) ESE of San Francisco, CA
- When
- 3:15 pm PST on 1 January 2020 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) northeast of Fairview, CA · earthquakes near Fairview
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 6.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alameda County, 10 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Calaveras fault, 5 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 2501 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Fairview, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Fairview, 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 Fairview, 5 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: Dublin 5 km, intensity II · Castro Valley 8 km, intensity II · San Ramon 8 km, intensity II · Hayward 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 4.5 on 2019-10-15 — about 23,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 49 km W of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 49 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 25 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 37 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 6 km NNE of East Foothills, California · 36 km SSE 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 37.7075, -121.9977. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | 10 km (6 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 24 km (15 mi) | N | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 46 km (29 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 60 km (38 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Solano County, CA | 62 km (39 mi) | N | earthquakes near Solano County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near San Joaquin County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 1km WSW of Pleasant Hill, CA
- 2.3 1km W of Pleasant Hill, CA
- 1.8 1km S of San Ramon, CA
- 1.7 1km E of Fremont, CA
- 1.7 4km NNW of Pittsburg, CA
- 2.4 3km NW of Pittsburg, CA
- 1.6 4km ENE of Walnut Creek, CA
- 2.1 10km SE of Livermore, CA
- 1.6 1km N of San Pablo, CA
- 2.0 12km SW of Byron, CA
- 1.7 1km NE of Diablo, CA
- 2.1 1km NE of Diablo, CA
- 1.8 0km E of Diablo, CA
- 1.5 0km E of Diablo, CA
- 1.7 2km ESE of Woodside, 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.