Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.2md
Earthquake near Lexington Hills, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Lexington Hills in the 24 hours to 2:34 am PST (10:34 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 9 km (6 mi) ESE, at 10:49 pm PDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Lexington Hills
This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded in Lexington Hills, CA, at 12:05 pm PDT on 23 September 2020 (19:05 UTC), 12 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 2km SW of Lexington Hills, CA
22 km (14 mi) SW of San Jose, CA · 19 km (12 mi) SSE of Cupertino, CA
- When
- 12:05 pm PDT on 23 September 2020 ()
- Where
- in Lexington Hills, CA · earthquakes near Lexington Hills
- Magnitude
- M 2.2 (md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Santa Cruz County, 16 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Butano fault, 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 2235 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Lexington Hills, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Lexington Hills, 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Los Gatos 8 km, intensity II · Scotts Valley 12 km, intensity II · Boulder Creek 12 km, intensity II · Saratoga 12 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 54 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 280,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 18× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.2 about 54 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 4.1 on 2017-10-10 — about 760 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 28 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 16 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 31 km E of this epicentre
- 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 43 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.3 16 km SW of Davenport, California · 41 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 23 km NE 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 37.1555, -121.9870. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 16 km (10 mi) | S | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Alameda County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | N | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | N | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 10km SSE of Sunol, CA
- 1.6 3km E of Aromas, CA
- 1.8 6km WSW of Gilroy, CA
- 1.7 7km WSW of Gilroy, CA
- 1.9 5km NE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.5 13km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.7 3km E of Aromas, CA
- 1.6 7km S of Gilroy, CA
- 1.7 3km E of Aromas, CA
- 1.9 9km NE of San Martin, CA
- 1.5 7km WSW of Gilroy, CA
- 1.8 7km WSW of Gilroy, CA
- 1.6 16km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 1.7 6km NNE of Corralitos, CA
- 1.6 2km NNE of Aromas, 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.