QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near Pittsburg, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Pittsburg in the 24 hours to 8:45 pm PST (04:45 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 15 km (9 mi) WSW, at 1:23 am PST on 2 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 39 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Pittsburg

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 15 km (10 mi) north of Pittsburg, CA, at 4:48 pm PDT on 22 April 2020 (23:48 UTC), 23 km deep.

USGS: 15km N of Pittsburg, CA

65 km (40 mi) NE of San Francisco, CA · 17 km (10 mi) N of Pittsburg, CA

4:48 pm PDT, Apr 22, 2020 · · 23 km deep · released about 36 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Solano County 13 kmContra Costa County 28 kmNapa County 55 kmSacramento County 56 kmYolo County 57 kmAlameda County 58 kmSan Joaquin County 58 kmMarin County 78 kmSan Mateo County 94 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
4:48 pm PDT on 22 April 2020 ()
Where
15 km (10 mi) north of Pittsburg, CA · earthquakes near Pittsburg
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
23 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Solano County, 13 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Great Valley thrust fault system, 15 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 2311 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Pittsburg, 15 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: Rio Vista, Suisun, Bay Point, Fairfield, Antioch, Oakley.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 36 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 420,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 27× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 36 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 4,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 39 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 37 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 15 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 49 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 40 km SSE 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 38.1658, -121.8703. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Solano County, CA 13 km (8 mi) NNW earthquakes near Solano County
Contra Costa County, CA 28 km (18 mi) SSW earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Napa County, CA 55 km (34 mi) NW earthquakes near Napa County
Sacramento County, CA 56 km (35 mi) NE earthquakes near Sacramento County
Yolo County, CA 57 km (36 mi) N earthquakes near Yolo County
Alameda County, CA 58 km (36 mi) S earthquakes near Alameda County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 3km ENE of Oakland, CA
  2. 1.6 8km WSW of Mountain House, CA
  3. 2.2 3km ENE of Walnut Creek, CA
  4. 1.8 2km N of Danville, CA
  5. 2.7 2km SSE of Crockett, CA
  6. 2.3 2km NE of El Cerrito, CA
  7. 1.6 15km ENE of Yountville, CA
  8. 1.9 13km ENE of Yountville, CA
  9. 2.6 6km SW of Clayton, CA
  10. 2.5 6km NE of Alamo, CA
  11. 1.6 5km E of Vallejo, CA
  12. 1.9 6km NE of Alamo, CA
  13. 2.5 11km SSW of Brentwood, CA
  14. 2.0 3km SW of American Canyon, CA
  15. 2.3 9km NE of Blackhawk, 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.