QuakeIndex

quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

3km ESE of Bonny Doon, CA

· -0.3 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Cruz County 10 kmSanta Clara County 44 kmSan Mateo County 48 kmAlameda County 71 kmContra Costa County 100 kmSan Benito County 103 kmSan Francisco County 112 kmMonterey County 113 kmStanislaus County 116 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
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
-0.3 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Santa Cruz County, 10 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2235 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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.

Where

Epicentre 37.0272, -122.1233. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Santa Cruz County, CA 10 km (6 mi) W of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Santa Clara County, CA 44 km (27 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Santa Clara County
San Mateo County, CA 48 km (30 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near San Mateo County
Alameda County, CA 71 km (44 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Alameda County
Contra Costa County, CA 100 km (62 mi) S of here earthquakes near Contra Costa County
San Benito County, CA 103 km (64 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 2km ESE of Aromas, CA
  2. 1.8 3km E of Aromas, CA
  3. 1.7 7km N of Day Valley, CA
  4. 2.3 6km SSW of Gilroy, CA
  5. 1.8 2km ENE of Aromas, CA
  6. 2.3 4km SW of Moss Landing, CA
  7. 1.7 6km SSW of Gilroy, CA
  8. 1.6 3km E of Aromas, CA
  9. 1.8 6km WSW of Gilroy, CA
  10. 1.7 7km WSW of Gilroy, CA
  11. 1.7 3km E of Aromas, CA
  12. 1.7 3km E of Aromas, CA
  13. 1.5 7km WSW of Gilroy, CA
  14. 1.8 7km WSW of Gilroy, CA
  15. 1.7 6km NNE of Corralitos, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.0 on 2017-03-31 — it released about 2,500 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.