QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Soledad, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Soledad in the 24 hours to 4:58 am PST (12:58 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 28 km (18 mi) east of Soledad, CA, at 4:26 pm PDT on 8 June 2021 (23:26 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 16km SE of Pinnacles, CA

4:26 pm PDT, Jun 8, 2021 · · -0.6 km deep · released about 7.1 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 20 kmMonterey County 35 kmMerced County 88 kmSanta Clara County 106 kmSanta Cruz County 109 kmKings County 115 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
4:26 pm PDT on 8 June 2021 ()
Where
28 km (18 mi) east of Soledad, CA · earthquakes near Soledad
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
-0.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 20 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 1 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 1980 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Soledad, 28 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Greenfield, King City.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 50,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 37 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 38 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 33 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 27 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 37 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 36.4407, -121.0102. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 20 km (13 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 35 km (22 mi) SW earthquakes near Monterey County
Merced County, CA 88 km (54 mi) NNE earthquakes near Merced County
Santa Clara County, CA 106 km (66 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 109 km (68 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Kings County, CA 115 km (71 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kings County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 6km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  2. 1.8 12km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  3. 1.6 10km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 2.5 10km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 1.6 6km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  6. 1.8 4km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 1.9 8km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 2.8 7km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  9. 2.2 8km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 2.6 7km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 1.7 10km N of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 1.7 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 1.8 6km ESE of San Lucas, CA
  14. 2.2 2km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  15. 1.9 11km SE 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

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