Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0md
Earthquake near Hollister, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Hollister in the 24 hours to 2:56 am PST (10:56 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 3.0 earthquake was recorded in Hollister, CA, at 7:50 am PDT on 1 August 2021 (14:50 UTC), 7.4 km deep. 83 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 2km NW of Hollister, CA
60 km (37 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 22 km (14 mi) SE of Gilroy, CA
- When
- 7:50 am PDT on 1 August 2021 ()
- Where
- in Hollister, CA · earthquakes near Hollister
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (md)
- Depth
- 7.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- 83 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 40 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Calaveras fault, under 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 1515 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 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 34 km (21 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Hollister in town, intensity III · Gilroy 21 km, intensity II · Prunedale 25 km, intensity II · Salinas 30 km, intensity II · Watsonville 31 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 830 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 410,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 13,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 830 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 420 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 25 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 46 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 34 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 22 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 27 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 26 km SE 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 36.8638, -121.4133. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 40 km (25 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Monterey County, CA | 70 km (43 mi) | S | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 86 km (53 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Stanislaus 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.
- 2.0 15km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 8km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 7km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 3km E of Aromas, CA
- 2.2 16km NW of Pinnacles, 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
- 2.0 14km N of Morgan Hill, CA
- 1.5 8km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 2km E of Aromas, CA
- 4.0 6km 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.