Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1md
Earthquake near Salinas, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 3:50 am PST (11:50 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 18 km (11 mi) ENE, at 5:38 am PDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Salinas
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 49 km (31 mi) east of Salinas, CA, at 11:39 am PST on 16 January 2020 (19:39 UTC), 9.8 km deep.
USGS: 13km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
96 km (60 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 47 km (30 mi) E of Salinas, CA
- When
- 11:39 am PST on 16 January 2020 ()
- Where
- 49 km (31 mi) east of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (md)
- Depth
- 9.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 4 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Calaveras fault, 8 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 2484 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Salinas, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Salinas, 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 49 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 40 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 380,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 270,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 24× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 40 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 8,800 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 48 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 15 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 13 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 48 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 35 km WNW 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 36.6415, -121.1048. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 4 km (2 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 70 km (44 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 83 km (51 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus 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.
- 1.5 12km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 5km SE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.7 6km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.6 12km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 2km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 2km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.3 20km E of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 20km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.8 12km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.1 11km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.1 2km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 12km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.9 12km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.9 12km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.9 12km SSE of Tres Pinos, 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.