QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Hollister, CA

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Hollister in the last 24 hours. M 2.6, 21 km (13 mi) WNW of Hollister, at 11:40 am PST on 12 November 2026 (19:40 UTC); the estimated shaking in Hollister was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Hollister

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) northeast of Hollister, CA, at 12:56 pm PST on 8 January 2022 (20:56 UTC), 3.0 km deep.

USGS: 27km NE of Hollister, CA

60 km (37 mi) ESE of San Jose, CA · 33 km (21 mi) E of Gilroy, CA

12:56 pm PST, Jan 8, 2022 · · 3.0 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Clara County 47 kmMerced County 47 kmSan Benito County 49 kmStanislaus County 61 kmSanta Cruz County 71 kmMonterey County 90 kmAlameda County 91 kmSan Joaquin County 99 kmSan Mateo County 111 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
12:56 pm PST on 8 January 2022 ()
Where
27 km (17 mi) northeast of Hollister, CA · earthquakes near Hollister
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
3.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Clara County, 47 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Ortigalita fault, 6 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 1726 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Hollister, 27 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 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 35,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 38 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 35 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 44 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 42 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 27 km WNW 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 37.0432, -121.2137. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Clara County, CA 47 km (29 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Merced County, CA 47 km (29 mi) ENE earthquakes near Merced County
San Benito County, CA 49 km (31 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Benito County
Stanislaus County, CA 61 km (38 mi) NNE earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Santa Cruz County, CA 71 km (44 mi) W earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Monterey County, CA 90 km (56 mi) S earthquakes near Monterey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 7km WSW of Gilroy, CA
  2. 1.6 16km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
  3. 1.7 11km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 1.8 11km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 1.6 23km WSW of Patterson, CA
  6. 1.6 4km W of San Juan Bautista, CA
  7. 1.9 3km WSW of Hollister, CA
  8. 1.8 9km SW of Tres Pinos, CA
  9. 1.8 9km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  10. 1.7 16km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
  11. 2.0 9km SW of Tres Pinos, CA
  12. 2.0 1km W of San Juan Bautista, CA
  13. 3.4 9km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  14. 1.5 1km W of San Juan Bautista, CA
  15. 2.8 9km N of San Juan Bautista, 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.