Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.6md
Earthquake near Carmel Valley Village, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Carmel Valley Village in the 24 hours to 5:00 pm PST (01:00 UTC). The last one was M 3.9, 53 km (33 mi) E, at 3:19 am PDT on 11 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 34 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Carmel Valley Village
This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) south of Carmel Valley Village, CA, at 9:14 am PST on 27 December 2021 (17:14 UTC), 13 km deep. 5 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 23km WNW of Lopez Point, CA
- When
- 9:14 am PST on 27 December 2021 ()
- Where
- 48 km (30 mi) south of Carmel Valley Village, CA · earthquakes near Carmel Valley Village
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (md)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- 5 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Monterey County, 48 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Pfeiffer Point fault, 10 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 1713 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Carmel Valley Village, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Carmel Valley Village, 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Carmel Valley Village, 48 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 280 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 55,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 39,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.5× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 280 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 25 km NW of San Simeon, California · 50 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.1 8 km E of Carmel Valley Village, California · 48 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.1 14 km NW of Big Sur, California · 34 km NNW 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 36.0795, -121.8115. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 88 km (55 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | N | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
37 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 20km S of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.5 9km ESE of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.6 26km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.6 3km E of Lopez Point, CA
- 2.4 28km S of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.6 12km ESE of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.9 26km NW of San Simeon, CA
- 1.5 25km NW of San Simeon, CA
- 1.6 5km ENE of Lopez Point, CA
- 2.5 16km WNW of Lopez Point, CA
- 2.1 25km NW of San Simeon, CA
- 2.7 28km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.6 20km SE of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.6 25km NW of San Simeon, CA
- 1.6 17km SSE of Lopez Point, 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.