Earthquake near Saratoga, CA

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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Saratoga, 12 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: Saratoga 12 km, intensity II · Cupertino 14 km, intensity II · Boulder Creek 14 km, intensity II · Los Altos 16 km, intensity II · Los Gatos 16 km, intensity II · Mountain View 17 km, intensity II · Sunnyvale 17 km, intensity II · Campbell 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 280 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 53,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 38,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.3× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 280 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 4.1 on 2017-10-10 — about 140 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 34 km SE of this epicentre Oct 18, 1989
2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 49 km ESE of this epicentre Jul 1, 1911
3. 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 49 km S of this epicentre Oct 22, 1926
4. 6.3 16 km SW of Davenport, California · 40 km SSW of this epicentre Oct 22, 1926
5. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 32 km E of this epicentre Aug 3, 1903

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 37.2490, -122.1578. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.8 3km W of Portola Valley, CA 07:11 UTC
2. 1.8 2km SW of Los Altos Hills, CA 02:12 UTC
3. 3.4 8km NE of Alum Rock, CA 17:35 UTC
4. 2.1 8km ENE of Alum Rock, CA 00:55 UTC
5. 1.6 15km E of Seven Trees, CA 10:48 UTC
6. 2.2 5km SSE of Newark, CA 04:03 UTC
7. 1.8 12km WNW of Boulder Creek, CA 08:23 UTC
8. 2.2 13km ESE of Seven Trees, CA 03:04 UTC
9. 1.7 11km E of Alum Rock, CA 02:28 UTC
10. 2.3 11km E of Alum Rock, CA 02:18 UTC
11. 1.5 11km ESE of Alum Rock, CA 00:40 UTC
12. 2.3 11km ESE of Alum Rock, CA 00:37 UTC
13. 2.4 11km ESE of Alum Rock, CA 00:36 UTC
14. 2.2 11km ESE of Alum Rock, CA 00:22 UTC
15. 2.3 11km E of Alum Rock, CA 00:14 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 05:00 UTC. 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.