QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Livermore, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Livermore in the 24 hours to 9:19 am PST (17:19 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) south-southeast of Livermore, CA, at 1:22 pm PST on 5 March 2022 (21:22 UTC), 7.2 km deep.

USGS: 19km SSE of Livermore, CA

28 km (17 mi) NNE of San Jose, CA · 19 km (12 mi) SSE of Livermore, CA

1:22 pm PST, Mar 5, 2022 · · 7.2 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alameda County 24 kmSanta Clara County 34 kmContra Costa County 50 kmSan Joaquin County 58 kmStanislaus County 61 kmSan Mateo County 62 kmSanta Cruz County 64 kmSolano County 85 kmMerced County 93 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
1:22 pm PST on 5 March 2022 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) south-southeast of Livermore, CA · earthquakes near Livermore
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
7.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Alameda County, 24 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Greenville fault, 12 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

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 Livermore, 19 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: East Foothills, Milpitas, Pleasanton, Fremont, San Jose, Dublin.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 5,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 46 km S of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 27 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 24 km S of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 38 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 49 km SSE 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 37.5255, -121.6885. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alameda County, CA 24 km (15 mi) NW earthquakes near Alameda County
Santa Clara County, CA 34 km (21 mi) S earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Contra Costa County, CA 50 km (31 mi) NNW earthquakes near Contra Costa County
San Joaquin County, CA 58 km (36 mi) NE earthquakes near San Joaquin County
Stanislaus County, CA 61 km (38 mi) E earthquakes near Stanislaus County
San Mateo County, CA 62 km (38 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Mateo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 8km NNE of Day Valley, CA
  2. 1.5 9km NNE of Alum Rock, CA
  3. 2.0 15km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  4. 1.8 8km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  5. 1.6 9km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  6. 1.7 8km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  7. 1.8 8km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  8. 3.3 10km NE of Morgan Hill, CA
  9. 1.9 8km S of Sunol, CA
  10. 1.5 2km NE of San Ramon, CA
  11. 1.6 5km E of Blackhawk, CA
  12. 2.0 8km ENE of Alum Rock, CA
  13. 1.5 15km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  14. 1.7 12km NNE of Alum Rock, CA
  15. 1.8 2km SE of Danville, 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.