Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8md
Earthquake near San Juan Bautista, CA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in San Juan Bautista in the last 24 hours. M 2.0, 4 km (2 mi) SSW of San Juan Bautista, at 2:11 am PST on 11 November 2026 (10:11 UTC); the estimated shaking in San Juan Bautista was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near San Juan Bautista
This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) south-southeast of San Juan Bautista, CA, at 12:26 am PST on 13 January 2021 (08:26 UTC), 4.8 km deep. 26 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 10km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
66 km (41 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA · 16 km (10 mi) ENE of Salinas, CA
- When
- 12:26 am PST on 13 January 2021 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) south-southeast of San Juan Bautista, CA · earthquakes near San Juan Bautista
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (md)
- Depth
- 4.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- 26 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 39 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas 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 2062 days ago
Earthquake alerts for San Juan Bautista, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near San Juan Bautista, 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 28 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In San Juan Bautista, 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: Hollister 11 km, intensity III · Prunedale 17 km, intensity II · Salinas 19 km, intensity II · Gilroy 28 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 510 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 30,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 21,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.8 about 510 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 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — about 680 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 25 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 46 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 23 km E of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 28 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 23 km ESE 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 36.7693, -121.4777. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 54 km (33 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 54 km (34 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Monterey County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 13km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 3.8 9km ENE of Gilroy, CA
- 1.5 7km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 2km SE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.0 1km NNE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.6 8km NE of Interlaken, CA
- 1.6 12km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 6km SW of Gilroy, CA
- 1.7 5km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.5 8km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 6km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 3.0 6km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 5km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 13km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 13km 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.