Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.7mw
Earthquake near Morgan Hill, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Morgan Hill in the 24 hours to 1:26 am PST (09:26 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 20 km (13 mi) N, at 12:38 pm PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Morgan Hill
This page: a magnitude 3.7 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Morgan Hill, CA, at 6:58 am PST on 15 December 2020 (14:58 UTC), 4.3 km deep. 2,305 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 10km ENE of Morgan Hill, CA
28 km (17 mi) ESE of San Jose, CA · 17 km (11 mi) N of Gilroy, CA
- When
- 6:58 am PST on 15 December 2020 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Morgan Hill, CA · earthquakes near Morgan Hill
- Magnitude
- M 3.7 (mw)
- Depth
- 4.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2,305 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Santa Clara County, 14 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Calaveras fault, 3 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 1337 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Morgan Hill, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Morgan Hill, 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 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 74 km (46 mi) from the epicentre. In Morgan Hill, 10 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: Morgan Hill 10 km, intensity III · Gilroy 17 km, intensity III · Watsonville 33 km, intensity II · San Jose 36 km, intensity II · Hollister 37 km, intensity II · Campbell 38 km, intensity II · Los Gatos 38 km, intensity II · Capitola 41 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 34,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.7 about 5 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 10× 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 4.1 on 2017-10-10 — about 4.1 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 · 32 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 10 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 27 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 20 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 23 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 37.1605, -121.5493. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County, CA | 14 km (9 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 44 km (27 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Alameda County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| Merced County, CA | 73 km (46 mi) | E | earthquakes near Merced County |
| San Benito County, CA | 74 km (46 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 11km NE of Milpitas, CA
- 1.6 10km NE of Milpitas, CA
- 1.5 10km NE of Milpitas, CA
- 1.8 10km NE of Milpitas, CA
- 3.2 10km NE of Milpitas, CA
- 2.0 9km E of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.7 3km E of Aromas, CA
- 1.9 12km ESE of Gilroy, CA
- 1.8 12km ESE of Gilroy, CA
- 1.7 9km NNW of Hollister, CA
- 1.9 12km ESE of Gilroy, CA
- 1.7 5km N of Aromas, CA
- 1.9 6km S of Gilroy, CA
- 2.1 6km S of Gilroy, CA
- 1.8 5km SW of Gilroy, 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.