QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2mw

Earthquake near San Leandro, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in San Leandro in the 24 hours to 2:39 am PST (10:39 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 18 km (11 mi) NNW, at 6:23 pm PST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 114 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Leandro

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of San Leandro, CA, at 11:43 am PDT on 6 September 2020 (18:43 UTC), 8.9 km deep. 3,304 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 3km ESE of San Leandro, CA

11 km (7 mi) SE of Oakland, CA · in San Leandro, CA

11:43 am PDT, Sep 6, 2020 · · 8.9 km deep · released about 2,000 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Leandro Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alameda County 20 kmContra Costa County 27 kmSan Mateo County 40 kmSolano County 64 kmMarin County 66 kmSanta Clara County 67 kmSanta Cruz County 79 kmSan Joaquin County 79 kmSan Francisco County 80 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
11:43 am PDT on 6 September 2020 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of San Leandro, CA · earthquakes near San Leandro
Magnitude
M 3.2 (mw)
Depth
8.9 km below the surface
Felt
3,304 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Alameda County, 20 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Hayward fault, under 1 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 1880 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 46 km (29 mi) from the epicentre. In San Leandro, 3 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: San Leandro 3 km, intensity III · Castro Valley 4 km, intensity III · San Lorenzo 5 km, intensity III · Hayward 7 km, intensity III · Alameda 13 km, intensity III · San Ramon 15 km, intensity III · Oakland 16 km, intensity III · Danville 16 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2,000 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,700× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 2,000 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.1× more

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 75 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 37 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 34 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 47 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 6 km NNE of East Foothills, California · 44 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 37 km E 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 37.7155, -122.1272. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alameda County, CA 20 km (13 mi) ESE earthquakes near Alameda County
Contra Costa County, CA 27 km (17 mi) NE earthquakes near Contra Costa County
San Mateo County, CA 40 km (25 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Solano County, CA 64 km (39 mi) NNE earthquakes near Solano County
Marin County, CA 66 km (41 mi) NW earthquakes near Marin County
Santa Clara County, CA 67 km (42 mi) SE earthquakes near Santa Clara 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. 2.0 6km NNE of Pittsburg, CA
  2. 2.3 2km ESE of Pleasanton, CA
  3. 1.5 3km NNW of Benicia, CA
  4. 1.9 5km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  5. 1.5 5km N of Dublin, CA
  6. 1.6 6km ESE of Santa Venetia, CA
  7. 1.5 4km SSE of Brentwood, CA
  8. 1.7 2km SW of Clayton, CA
  9. 1.8 8km SSW of Loyola, CA
  10. 1.9 11km NE of Milpitas, CA
  11. 1.9 11km NE of Milpitas, CA
  12. 1.7 6km W of Brentwood, CA
  13. 2.3 3km ENE of San Ramon, CA
  14. 1.7 11km NE of Milpitas, CA
  15. 2.2 10km NE 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

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