QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Patterson, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Patterson in the 24 hours to 3:44 am PST (11:44 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 29 km (18 mi) W, at 9:44 am PDT on 31 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Patterson

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) west-southwest of Patterson, CA, at 2:14 am PST on 3 March 2022 (10:14 UTC), 2.2 km deep.

USGS: 23km WSW of Patterson, CA

42 km (26 mi) E of San Jose, CA · 42 km (26 mi) SSE of Tracy, CA

2:14 am PST, Mar 3, 2022 · · 2.2 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Clara County 34 kmStanislaus County 38 kmMerced County 58 kmAlameda County 59 kmSan Joaquin County 64 kmSanta Cruz County 70 kmContra Costa County 82 kmSan Benito County 87 kmSan Mateo County 91 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
2:14 am PST on 3 March 2022 ()
Where
23 km (14 mi) west-southwest of Patterson, CA · earthquakes near Patterson
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
2.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Clara County, 34 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Greenville 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 1714 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Patterson, 23 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: Newman.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 4.1 on 2017-10-10 — about 5,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 38 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 40 km W of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 30 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 44 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 32 km SSW 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 37.3610, -121.3488. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Clara County, CA 34 km (21 mi) WSW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Stanislaus County, CA 38 km (24 mi) NE earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Merced County, CA 58 km (36 mi) ESE earthquakes near Merced County
Alameda County, CA 59 km (37 mi) WNW earthquakes near Alameda County
San Joaquin County, CA 64 km (40 mi) N earthquakes near San Joaquin County
Santa Cruz County, CA 70 km (44 mi) WSW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 11km SE of Livermore, CA
  2. 1.8 12km SE of Livermore, CA
  3. 1.8 11km NE of Milpitas, CA
  4. 1.9 13km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
  5. 3.0 10km ESE of Gilroy, CA
  6. 1.9 9km NE of Milpitas, CA
  7. 2.7 15km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  8. 1.6 10km NE of San Martin, CA
  9. 1.5 9km NNE of Alum Rock, CA
  10. 2.0 15km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  11. 1.7 12km ESE of Gilroy, CA
  12. 1.8 8km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  13. 1.6 9km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  14. 1.7 8km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  15. 1.8 8km NE of Alum Rock, 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.