Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Livermore, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Livermore in the 24 hours to 2:22 am PST (10:22 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) south-southeast of Livermore, CA, at 6:54 pm PDT on 16 May 2020 (01:54 UTC), 5.7 km deep.
USGS: 13km SSE of Livermore, CA
13 km (8 mi) SSE of Livermore, CA · 33 km (20 mi) NNE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 6:54 pm PDT on 16 May 2020 ()
- Where
- 13 km (8 mi) south-southeast of Livermore, CA · earthquakes near Livermore
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 5.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alameda County, 20 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Las Positas fault, 9 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 2365 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Livermore, 13 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, East Foothills, Milpitas, Dublin, Fremont, Mountain House.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 970,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 61× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 4.3 on 2019-07-16 — about 5,600 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 32 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 30 km S of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 43 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 30 km N of this epicentre
- 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 11 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 37.5777, -121.7042. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | 20 km (12 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 40 km (25 mi) | S | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 44 km (27 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Joaquin County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 62 km (38 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 62 km (38 mi) | E | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 10km NE of Milpitas, CA
- 2.9 10km NE of Milpitas, CA
- 3.5 10km NE of Milpitas, CA
- 1.6 4km SSW of Newark, CA
- 2.6 6km SW of Clayton, CA
- 2.5 6km NE of Alamo, CA
- 1.9 6km E of Fremont, CA
- 1.9 6km NE of Alamo, CA
- 1.9 9km E of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.9 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 1.6 3km ESE of Union City, CA
- 3.0 8km NE of Alum Rock, CA
- 2.5 11km SSW of Brentwood, CA
- 2.6 11km ENE of Milpitas, CA
- 1.8 9km NNE of Milpitas, 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.