Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Vine Hill, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Vine Hill in the 24 hours to 2:57 am PST (10:57 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 8 km (5 mi) SSE, at 4:05 am PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Vine Hill
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) north-northeast of Vine Hill, CA, at 12:26 pm PST on 5 January 2021 (20:26 UTC), 5.5 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 3km NNE of Vine Hill, CA
10 km (6 mi) NW of Concord, CA · 41 km (26 mi) NE of San Francisco, CA
- When
- 12:26 pm PST on 5 January 2021 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) north-northeast of Vine Hill, CA · earthquakes near Vine Hill
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 5.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Contra Costa County, 17 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Concord 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 2092 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Vine Hill, CA
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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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Vine Hill, 3 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: Martinez 5 km, intensity II · Pacheco 6 km, intensity II · Benicia 7 km, intensity II · Concord 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 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 28,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 28 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 35 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 33 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 46 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 37 km SE 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 38.0370, -122.0820. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contra Costa County, CA | 17 km (11 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Solano County, CA | 28 km (18 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Alameda County, CA | 46 km (28 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Napa County, CA | 56 km (35 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Marin County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | W | earthquakes near Marin County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | E | earthquakes near San Joaquin County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
42 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 0km NW of Danville, CA
- 2.1 1km WNW of Danville, CA
- 2.8 2km N of Piedmont, CA
- 1.5 5km E of Vallejo, CA
- 2.5 2km N of Piedmont, CA
- 1.8 3km WSW of Oakley, CA
- 1.9 10km SSE of Elmira, CA
- 1.8 3km S of Concord, CA
- 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
- 1.8 11km ENE of Yountville, CA
- 2.8 10km ENE of Yountville, CA
- 1.6 5km S of Yountville, 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.