Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1md
Earthquake near Livermore, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Livermore in the 24 hours to 11:02 pm PST (07:02 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 12 km (8 mi) SE, at 8:52 am PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Livermore
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Livermore, CA, at 3:21 pm PDT on 3 April 2020 (22:21 UTC), 17 km deep.
USGS: 10km SE of Livermore, CA
10 km (6 mi) SE of Livermore, CA · 37 km (23 mi) NNE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 3:21 pm PDT on 3 April 2020 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Livermore, CA · earthquakes near Livermore
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (md)
- Depth
- 17 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alameda County, 19 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Greenville fault, 6 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 2413 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Livermore, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Livermore, 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Livermore, 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Pleasanton, Mountain House, Dublin, Fremont, Tracy, Milpitas.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 49 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 5.8 310,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 220,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 49 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 3,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 36 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 34 km S of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 47 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 26 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 15 km S 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 37.6132, -121.6955. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | 19 km (12 mi) | W | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 41 km (25 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 44 km (27 mi) | S | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 52 km (32 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Joaquin County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | E | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Mateo 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.
- 1.5 4km WSW of Brentwood, CA
- 1.6 16km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.6 16km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 2.1 10km SW of Brentwood, CA
- 1.5 1km SSE of Pleasanton, CA
- 1.7 14km N of Morgan Hill, CA
- 1.6 14km SE of Livermore, CA
- 1.8 10km NE of Blackhawk, CA
- 1.8 2km SW of Los Altos Hills, CA
- 3.4 8km NE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.8 4km E of Livermore, CA
- 2.1 8km ENE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.6 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 1.6 1km SSE of San Ramon, CA
- 2.2 5km SSE of Newark, 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.