QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near San Jose, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in San Jose in the 24 hours to 12:15 am PST (08:15 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 19 km (12 mi) E, at 12:38 pm PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Jose

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) north-northeast of San Jose, CA, at 8:23 pm PST on 2 March 2021 (04:23 UTC), 3.4 km deep.

USGS: 10km SE of Sunol, CA

26 km (16 mi) N of San Jose, CA · 11 km (7 mi) ENE of Fremont, CA

8:23 pm PST, Mar 2, 2021 · · 3.4 km deep · released about 38 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Jose Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alameda County 15 kmSanta Clara County 37 kmContra Costa County 44 kmSan Mateo County 50 kmSanta Cruz County 60 kmSan Joaquin County 66 kmStanislaus County 73 kmSolano County 82 kmMarin County 99 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
8:23 pm PST on 2 March 2021 ()
Where
22 km (14 mi) north-northeast of San Jose, CA · earthquakes near San Jose
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
3.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Alameda County, 15 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Calaveras 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 2079 days ago

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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In San Jose, 22 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: Milpitas 14 km, intensity II · Fremont 14 km, intensity II · Pleasanton 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 38 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 390,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 25× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 38 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 3,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 50 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 26 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 28 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 37 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 7 km NNW of Boulder Creek, California · 48 km SW 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 37.5338, -121.8272. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alameda County, CA 15 km (9 mi) NNW earthquakes near Alameda County
Santa Clara County, CA 37 km (23 mi) SSE earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Contra Costa County, CA 44 km (27 mi) NNW earthquakes near Contra Costa County
San Mateo County, CA 50 km (31 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Santa Cruz County, CA 60 km (37 mi) SSW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
San Joaquin County, CA 66 km (41 mi) NE earthquakes near San Joaquin County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 5km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  2. 2.5 5km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  3. 1.9 9km E of Alum Rock, CA
  4. 1.6 1km W of Alamo, CA
  5. 1.6 11km WSW of Saratoga, CA
  6. 2.4 9km SE of Livermore, CA
  7. 2.1 9km E of Alum Rock, CA
  8. 1.7 9km E of Alum Rock, CA
  9. 3.6 9km E of Alum Rock, CA
  10. 1.6 7km SW of Los Altos Hills, CA
  11. 1.8 2km ENE of Oakland, CA
  12. 1.6 1km SW of Danville, CA
  13. 2.0 10km E of Blackhawk, CA
  14. 1.8 9km E of Blackhawk, CA
  15. 1.9 5km NW of Dublin, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.