Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9md
Earthquake near Hollister, CA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Hollister in the last 24 hours. M 2.6, 21 km (13 mi) WNW of Hollister, at 11:40 am PST on 12 November 2026 (19:40 UTC); the estimated shaking in Hollister was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Hollister
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) east of Hollister, CA, at 11:20 am PST on 6 January 2020 (19:20 UTC), 7.5 km deep.
USGS: 7km NNE of Tres Pinos, CA
68 km (42 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 31 km (19 mi) ESE of Gilroy, CA
- When
- 11:20 am PST on 6 January 2020 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) east of Hollister, CA · earthquakes near Hollister
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (md)
- Depth
- 7.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 33 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Quien Sabe fault, under 1 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 2494 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hollister, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Hollister, 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Hollister, 10 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: Hollister 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 24 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 640,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 450,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 40× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 24 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 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — about 15,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 42 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 15 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 38 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 21 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 34 km NW 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 36.8523, -121.2938. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 33 km (20 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 54 km (34 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Merced County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Monterey County, CA | 68 km (42 mi) | S | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 83 km (52 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 13km NNE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.7 9km SW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.8 5km NE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 12km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.5 9km ENE of San Martin, CA
- 1.6 5km NNW of Moss Landing, CA
- 2.8 10km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.8 9km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.4 10km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.6 13km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.9 18km W of Los Banos, CA
- 2.5 9km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.3 5km NNW of Aromas, CA
- 1.8 6km N of Pinnacles, 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.