Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8md
Earthquake near Livermore, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Livermore in the 24 hours to 6:42 am PST (14:42 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 12 km (8 mi) SE, at 8:52 am PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Livermore
This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) south-southeast of Livermore, CA, at 7:55 pm PDT on 16 October 2021 (02:55 UTC), 3.4 km deep. 70 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 16km SSE of Livermore, CA
30 km (19 mi) NNE of San Jose, CA · 16 km (10 mi) SSE of Livermore, CA
- When
- 7:55 pm PDT on 16 October 2021 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) south-southeast of Livermore, CA · earthquakes near Livermore
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (md)
- Depth
- 3.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- 70 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Alameda County, 22 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Greenville 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 1783 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Livermore, CA
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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 28 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In Livermore, 16 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.
Likely felt in: Livermore 16 km, intensity II · Pleasanton 20 km, intensity II · Milpitas 23 km, intensity II · Fremont 25 km, intensity II · Dublin 27 km, intensity II · Union City 29 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 530 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 29,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 20,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.8× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.8 about 530 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 4.3 on 2019-07-16 — about 170 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 49 km S of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 29 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 27 km S of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 40 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 33 km N 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 37.5492, -121.6998. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | 22 km (13 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 36 km (23 mi) | S | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 57 km (35 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Joaquin County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | E | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 10km ENE of Milpitas, CA
- 2.1 9km E of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.5 2km S of Alamo, CA
- 2.3 4km NE of Fairview, CA
- 1.8 5km NNE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.6 2km NE of San Ramon, CA
- 1.9 1km NW of Danville, CA
- 1.7 1km WNW of Danville, CA
- 2.0 10km E of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.8 9km NE of Morgan Hill, CA
- 2.3 2km SW of Discovery Bay, CA
- 2.5 4km N of San Leandro, CA
- 1.8 1km NE of San Ramon, CA
- 2.7 9km ENE of Morgan Hill, CA
- 1.9 7km ESE of Bethel Island, 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.