Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.3mw
Earthquake near Salinas, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 4:58 pm PST (00:58 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 18 km (11 mi) ENE, at 5:38 am PDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Salinas
This page: a magnitude 4.3 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) east of Salinas, CA, at 6:42 am PST on 2 January 2021 (14:42 UTC), 6.3 km deep. 2,139 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 10km NW of Pinnacles, CA
93 km (58 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 39 km (24 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA
- When
- 6:42 am PST on 2 January 2021 ()
- Where
- 40 km (25 mi) east of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
- Magnitude
- M 4.3 (mw)
- Depth
- 6.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2,139 reports · strongest reported intensity VI
- Measured shaking
- intensity VII (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 11 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas 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 1774 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Salinas, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Salinas, 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 light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 123 km (76 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 40 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: Soledad 23 km, intensity III · Hollister 32 km, intensity III · Greenfield 32 km, intensity III · Salinas 40 km, intensity III · King City 45 km, intensity III · Prunedale 45 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 46 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 3,700× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 170× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.3 about 46 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 95× 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 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — about 3.8 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 14 km N of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 8 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 30 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 11 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 3 km ENE of Tres Pinos, California · 23 km NNW 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 36.6085, -121.2125. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 11 km (7 mi) | E | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 78 km (49 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 80 km (50 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 11km ENE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.6 4km ESE of Aromas, CA
- 1.6 11km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.5 2km ESE of Aromas, CA
- 1.6 11km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 5km SE of Aromas, CA
- 1.9 4km SE of Aromas, CA
- 3.0 4km SE of Aromas, CA
- 2.0 3km ESE of Aromas, CA
- 4.2 4km SE of Aromas, CA
- 2.0 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.8 10km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.6 11km SW of Ridgemark, CA
- 2.1 2km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.5 12km NW of Pinnacles, 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.