QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Oakley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Oakley in the 24 hours to 3:00 am PST (11:00 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 16 km (10 mi) SSW, at 6:47 am PDT on 14 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 52 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Oakley

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) west-southwest of Oakley, CA, at 9:57 pm PDT on 24 April 2021 (04:57 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 3km WSW of Oakley, CA

in Antioch, CA

9:57 pm PDT, Apr 24, 2021 · · 17 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Contra Costa County 19 kmSolano County 35 kmAlameda County 41 kmSan Joaquin County 42 kmSacramento County 62 kmNapa County 77 kmYolo County 78 kmStanislaus County 81 kmSan Mateo County 84 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
9:57 pm PDT on 24 April 2021 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) west-southwest of Oakley, CA · earthquakes near Oakley
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Contra Costa County, 19 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Greenville fault, 15 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 2025 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Oakley, 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Antioch, Knightsen, Brentwood, Bethel Island, Pittsburg, Discovery Bay.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 12,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 16 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 37 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 27 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 20 km S 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 37.9875, -121.7475. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Contra Costa County, CA 19 km (12 mi) WSW earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Solano County, CA 35 km (22 mi) NNW earthquakes near Solano County
Alameda County, CA 41 km (25 mi) SSW earthquakes near Alameda County
San Joaquin County, CA 42 km (26 mi) E earthquakes near San Joaquin County
Sacramento County, CA 62 km (39 mi) NE earthquakes near Sacramento County
Napa County, CA 77 km (48 mi) NW earthquakes near Napa 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.

  1. 1.9 3km SW of Clayton, CA
  2. 1.8 1km ENE of Alamo, CA
  3. 1.7 5km WNW of Dublin, CA
  4. 1.6 1km NE of Berkeley, CA
  5. 2.0 1km NNW of Pleasant Hill, CA
  6. 1.6 9km WSW of Mountain House, CA
  7. 1.5 2km ESE of Berkeley, CA
  8. 1.5 4km E of Moraga, CA
  9. 2.2 4km NNE of Blackhawk, CA
  10. 2.5 4km NNE of Blackhawk, CA
  11. 2.0 4km NE of Blackhawk, CA
  12. 1.5 16km SSE of Livermore, CA
  13. 1.6 9km WSW of Mountain House, CA
  14. 2.3 2km WNW of Concord, CA
  15. 1.7 2km E of Berkeley, 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.