Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Hollister, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Hollister in the 24 hours to 2:37 am PST (10:37 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 14 km (9 mi) WSW, at 2:11 am PST on 11 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Hollister
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) east of Hollister, CA, at 1:57 pm PDT on 31 July 2021 (20:57 UTC), 1.9 km deep.
USGS: 19km ENE of Tres Pinos, CA
77 km (48 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 43 km (27 mi) ESE of Gilroy, CA
- When
- 1:57 pm PDT on 31 July 2021 ()
- Where
- 24 km (15 mi) east of Hollister, CA · earthquakes near Hollister
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 1.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 30 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Ortigalita fault, 11 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 1921 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hollister, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Hollister, 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Hollister, 24 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: Ridgemark.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.7 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 2,600,000× 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 5.7 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 61,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 18 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 25 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 42 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 29 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 26 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 36.8750, -121.1322. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 30 km (18 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Merced County, CA | 51 km (32 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Monterey County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 77 km (48 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 8km S of Gustine, CA
- 1.6 7km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.5 15km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.6 11km ESE of Gilroy, CA
- 1.9 13km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.5 6km SW of Gilroy, CA
- 2.2 6km SW of Gilroy, CA
- 1.5 8km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 9km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 2km E of Aromas, CA
- 4.0 6km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 3km ESE of Aromas, CA
- 1.7 18km SSW of Gustine, CA
- 1.7 4km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 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.