Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Soledad, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Soledad in the 24 hours to 11:39 am PST (19:39 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) N, at 2:58 pm PDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Soledad
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 31 km (19 mi) east-northeast of Soledad, CA, at 3:43 pm PST on 20 January 2021 (23:43 UTC), 8.8 km deep.
USGS: 11km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
57 km (35 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA · 109 km (68 mi) SE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 3:43 pm PST on 20 January 2021 ()
- Where
- 31 km (19 mi) east-northeast of Soledad, CA · earthquakes near Soledad
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 8.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 9 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 9 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 2114 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Soledad, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Soledad, 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Soledad, 31 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.6 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 2,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 63,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 38 km E of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 27 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 24 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 36 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 47 km NW 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 36.5530, -121.0205. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 9 km (5 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 44 km (27 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 102 km (63 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
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.
- 2.2 11km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.1 12 km SSW of Tres Pinos, California
- 2.5 9km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.2 5km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.3 23km SSW of South Dos Palos, CA
- 2.0 22km ENE of San Lucas, CA
- 1.6 21km ENE of San Lucas, CA
- 2.5 8km NE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.4 22km SSW of South Dos Palos, CA
- 2.1 11km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.5 7km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 11km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.9 9km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.2 2km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 8km 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.