Earthquake near Hayward, CA

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 Hayward, 6 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: Union City 4 km, intensity II · Hayward 6 km, intensity II · Castro Valley 8 km, intensity II · San Lorenzo 10 km, intensity II · Fremont 10 km, intensity II · Newark 11 km, intensity II · Dublin 12 km, intensity II · Pleasanton 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 41 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 370,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 260,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 23× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 41 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 3,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 47 km WNW of this epicentre Apr 18, 1906
2. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 42 km SSE of this epicentre Aug 3, 1903
3. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 47 km SE of this epicentre Apr 24, 1984
4. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 33 km NE of this epicentre Jan 24, 1980
5. 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 35 km ESE of this epicentre Mar 31, 1986

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 37.6318, -122.0325. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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. 2.7 8km ESE of Fremont, CA 18:58 UTC
2. 1.9 6km N of Alum Rock, CA 12:09 UTC
3. 2.0 0km SE of Pleasant Hill, CA 19:16 UTC
4. 2.1 8km ESE of Fremont, CA 10:22 UTC
5. 2.0 11km NE of Milpitas, CA 09:55 UTC
6. 1.6 11km NE of Milpitas, CA 07:02 UTC
7. 1.6 10km NE of Milpitas, CA 04:20 UTC
8. 1.5 10km NE of Milpitas, CA 00:54 UTC
9. 1.8 10km NE of Milpitas, CA 00:52 UTC
10. 3.2 10km NE of Milpitas, CA 00:45 UTC
11. 2.0 9km E of Alum Rock, CA 06:58 UTC
12. 2.2 12km WSW of Saratoga, CA 20:41 UTC
13. 1.5 3km ESE of Berkeley, CA 07:52 UTC
14. 2.6 3km ESE of Berkeley, CA 05:12 UTC
15. 2.1 2km WNW of Castro Valley, CA 13:57 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 22:38 UTC. 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.