QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6mw

Earthquake near Corralitos, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Corralitos in the 24 hours to 2:53 am PST (10:53 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 20 km (12 mi) ESE, at 12:04 pm PDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Corralitos

This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) east-northeast of Corralitos, CA, at 9:59 am PDT on 19 March 2022 (16:59 UTC), 12 km deep. 742 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4km ENE of Corralitos, CA

9 km (5 mi) N of Watsonville, CA · 33 km (21 mi) S of San Jose, CA

9:59 am PDT, Mar 19, 2022 · · 12 km deep · released about 3.5 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Cruz County 22 kmSanta Clara County 25 kmSan Mateo County 71 kmAlameda County 73 kmSan Benito County 74 kmStanislaus County 92 kmMonterey County 94 kmMerced County 95 kmContra Costa County 103 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
9:59 am PDT on 19 March 2022 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) east-northeast of Corralitos, CA · earthquakes near Corralitos
Magnitude
M 3.6 (mw)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
742 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Santa Cruz County, 22 km W
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 1 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 1147 days ago

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 67 km (42 mi) from the epicentre. In Corralitos, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Watsonville 10 km, intensity III · Morgan Hill 17 km, intensity III · Gilroy 17 km, intensity III · Capitola 17 km, intensity III · Live Oak 20 km, intensity III · Scotts Valley 23 km, intensity III · Santa Cruz 24 km, intensity III · Prunedale 26 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.5 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 48,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.5 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7.4× more

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 4.2 on 2021-01-17 — about 8.5 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 33 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 11 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 16 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 45 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 33 km N of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 35 km NNE 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 37.0022, -121.7615. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Cruz County, CA 22 km (14 mi) W earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Santa Clara County, CA 25 km (16 mi) NNE earthquakes near Santa Clara County
San Mateo County, CA 71 km (44 mi) NW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Alameda County, CA 73 km (45 mi) N earthquakes near Alameda County
San Benito County, CA 74 km (46 mi) SE earthquakes near San Benito County
Stanislaus County, CA 92 km (57 mi) NE earthquakes near Stanislaus County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 10km SSW of Ridgemark, CA
  2. 1.6 6km N of Tres Pinos, CA
  3. 2.0 9km SW of Tres Pinos, CA
  4. 1.8 9km SW of Tres Pinos, CA
  5. 2.3 8km E of Alum Rock, CA
  6. 2.9 2km SW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  7. 2.0 4km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
  8. 2.3 5km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
  9. 1.8 14km E of Seven Trees, CA
  10. 2.4 14km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  11. 1.7 4km ESE of Aromas, CA
  12. 1.6 4km ESE of Aromas, CA
  13. 1.8 10km ENE of Morgan Hill, CA
  14. 1.7 16km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  15. 2.2 7km S of Gilroy, 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.