Earthquake near Morgan Hill, CA

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 70 km (43 mi) from the epicentre. In Morgan Hill, 15 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: Morgan Hill 15 km, intensity III · San Jose 24 km, intensity III · Campbell 28 km, intensity III · Santa Clara 30 km, intensity II · Milpitas 30 km, intensity II · Gilroy 30 km, intensity II · Los Gatos 30 km, intensity II · Saratoga 34 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 43,000× the energy of this one
2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900× the energy of this one
3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.9 tons of TNT
5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 8.2× more

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 4.2 on 2021-01-17 — about 7.7 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 33 km SW of this epicentre Oct 18, 1989
2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 17 km S of this epicentre Jul 1, 1911
3. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 15 km WNW of this epicentre Aug 3, 1903
4. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 6 km NW of this epicentre Apr 24, 1984
5. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 16 km WSW of this epicentre Jun 11, 1903

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 37.2670, -121.6395. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.8 8km SW of Loyola, CA 16:55 UTC
2. 1.7 9km NNE of Alum Rock, CA 14:08 UTC
3. 1.7 19km SE of Livermore, CA 05:40 UTC
4. 2.0 9km NE of Milpitas, CA 09:04 UTC
5. 1.7 9km N of Boulder Creek, CA 12:42 UTC
6. 1.5 8km ENE of Gilroy, CA 10:25 UTC
7. 2.4 9km NE of San Martin, CA 18:36 UTC
8. 1.7 2km ENE of Aromas, CA 16:05 UTC
9. 1.7 15km E of Seven Trees, CA 10:52 UTC
10. 1.8 16km N of Morgan Hill, CA 05:29 UTC
11. 2.1 14km N of Morgan Hill, CA 23:18 UTC
12. 1.7 14km N of Morgan Hill, CA 05:29 UTC
13. 1.7 12km NE of Hollister, CA 00:39 UTC
14. 2.5 20km SE of Livermore, CA 12:31 UTC
15. 2.8 20km SE of Livermore, CA 20:47 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 03:17 UTC. 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.