QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.9mw

Earthquake near Morgan Hill, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Morgan Hill in the 24 hours to 5:16 am PST (13:16 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 20 km (13 mi) N, at 12:38 pm PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Morgan Hill

This page: a magnitude 3.9 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Morgan Hill, CA, at 11:16 pm PST on 1 January 2020 (07:16 UTC), 5.3 km deep. 2,804 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 10km ENE of Morgan Hill, CA

26 km (16 mi) ESE of San Jose, CA · 19 km (12 mi) N of Gilroy, CA

11:16 pm PST, Jan 1, 2020 · · 5.3 km deep · released about 9.3 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Morgan Hill Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Clara County 12 kmSanta Cruz County 43 kmAlameda County 61 kmStanislaus County 66 kmMerced County 75 kmSan Benito County 76 kmSan Mateo County 76 kmSan Joaquin County 88 kmContra Costa County 89 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
11:16 pm PST on 1 January 2020 ()
Where
9 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Morgan Hill, CA · earthquakes near Morgan Hill
Magnitude
M 3.9 (mw)
Depth
5.3 km below the surface
Felt
2,804 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Measured shaking
intensity V (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Tsunami
USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
Nearest
Santa Clara County, 12 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Calaveras fault, 3 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 1739 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 86 km (53 mi) from the epicentre. In Morgan Hill, 9 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: Morgan Hill 9 km, intensity IV · Gilroy 19 km, intensity III · Watsonville 34 km, intensity III · San Jose 34 km, intensity III · Campbell 36 km, intensity III · Los Gatos 37 km, intensity III · Hollister 39 km, intensity III · Santa Clara 40 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 18,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 810× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 580× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.9 about 9.3 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 19× more

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 4.1 on 2017-10-10 — about 2.2 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 28 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 32 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 10 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 25 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 18 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 21 km W 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 37.1760, -121.5638. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Clara County, CA 12 km (8 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 43 km (27 mi) WSW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Alameda County, CA 61 km (38 mi) NNW earthquakes near Alameda County
Stanislaus County, CA 66 km (41 mi) NE earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Merced County, CA 75 km (46 mi) E earthquakes near Merced County
San Benito County, CA 76 km (47 mi) SE earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 6km ENE of San Juan Bautista, CA
  2. 1.7 9km NNE of Alum Rock, CA
  3. 2.1 25km WSW of Westley, CA
  4. 2.9 5km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  5. 2.1 5km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
  6. 2.1 5km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
  7. 2.6 5km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
  8. 1.7 3km E of Aromas, CA
  9. 1.5 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
  10. 1.8 8km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  11. 2.3 16km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  12. 1.7 10km ESE of Gilroy, CA
  13. 1.6 9km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  14. 2.0 3km W of San Juan Bautista, CA
  15. 1.7 3km E of Aromas, 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.