Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Berkeley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Berkeley in the 24 hours to 5:36 am PST (13:36 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 2 km (2 mi) E, at 6:31 pm PST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Berkeley
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded in Berkeley, CA, at 3:12 pm PST on 24 December 2020 (23:12 UTC), 8.6 km deep.
USGS: 2km E of Berkeley, CA
18 km (11 mi) NE of San Francisco, CA · in Berkeley, CA
- When
- 3:12 pm PST on 24 December 2020 ()
- Where
- in Berkeley, CA · earthquakes near Berkeley
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 8.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Contra Costa County, 27 km ENE
- 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 2137 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Berkeley, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Berkeley, 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 9 km (6 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: Berkeley in town, intensity II · Orinda 7 km, intensity II · El Cerrito 7 km, intensity II · Oakland 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 14,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 29 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 38 km N of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 43 km E of this epicentre
- 5.3 The 1957 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 30 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 43 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 37.8720, -122.2542. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contra Costa County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Alameda County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Marin County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Marin County |
| Solano County, CA | 52 km (32 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Solano County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 52 km (32 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| San Francisco County, CA | 70 km (44 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Francisco County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
43 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 6km ESE of Santa Venetia, CA
- 1.8 1km SW of East Richmond Heights, CA
- 2.4 0km W of Pleasant Hill, CA
- 2.1 4km WSW of Pleasanton, CA
- 2.7 10km WNW of American Canyon, CA
- 1.6 2km E of Vallejo, CA
- 1.9 3km ESE of Berkeley, CA
- 1.6 6km ESE of Fairview, CA
- 1.6 3km WSW of Blackhawk, CA
- 1.6 2km N of San Ramon, CA
- 2.3 2km SE of Danville, CA
- 1.8 2km ESE of Berkeley, CA
- 2.6 1km ENE of Union City, CA
- 2.2 3km SW of Green Valley, CA
- 1.6 8km ESE of Fremont, 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.