QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near American Canyon, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in American Canyon in the 24 hours to 3:46 pm PST (23:46 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 8 km (5 mi) ESE, at 11:09 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near American Canyon

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) southwest of American Canyon, CA, at 8:28 pm PDT on 26 July 2020 (03:28 UTC), 6.5 km deep. 19 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 3km SW of American Canyon, CA

6 km (4 mi) NNW of Vallejo, CA

8:28 pm PDT, Jul 26, 2020 · · 6.5 km deep · released about 35 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Solano County 33 kmNapa County 39 kmContra Costa County 40 kmMarin County 41 kmAlameda County 66 kmYolo County 67 kmSonoma County 69 kmSan Francisco County 81 kmSan Mateo County 83 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
8:28 pm PDT on 26 July 2020 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) southwest of American Canyon, CA · earthquakes near American Canyon
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
6.5 km below the surface
Felt
19 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Solano County, 33 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
West Napa fault, 7 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 2297 days ago

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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In American Canyon, 3 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: Vallejo 7 km, intensity II · Crockett 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 35 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 5.8 440,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 310,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 28× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 35 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 4,300 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 7 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 38 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 3 km E of Bloomfield, California · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 Northern California · 50 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 38.1575, -122.2930. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Solano County, CA 33 km (21 mi) ENE earthquakes near Solano County
Napa County, CA 39 km (24 mi) N earthquakes near Napa County
Contra Costa County, CA 40 km (25 mi) SE earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Marin County, CA 41 km (26 mi) WSW earthquakes near Marin County
Alameda County, CA 66 km (41 mi) SSE earthquakes near Alameda County
Yolo County, CA 67 km (42 mi) NNE earthquakes near Yolo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 3km ESE of Berkeley, CA
  2. 1.8 7km N of Pittsburg, CA
  3. 1.7 1km WSW of Pleasant Hill, CA
  4. 2.0 8km N of Pittsburg, CA
  5. 2.0 6km NNE of Pittsburg, CA
  6. 1.5 3km NNW of Benicia, CA
  7. 1.8 2km S of Angwin, CA
  8. 1.7 6km SW of Yountville, CA
  9. 2.3 14km E of Angwin, CA
  10. 2.1 6km SSW of Yountville, CA
  11. 1.6 6km ESE of Santa Venetia, CA
  12. 1.6 14km E of Angwin, CA
  13. 2.0 13km ESE of Angwin, CA
  14. 3.5 13km E of Angwin, CA
  15. 1.5 15km E of Angwin, 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.