QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Brentwood, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Brentwood in the 24 hours to 10:33 pm PST (06:33 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 12 km (7 mi) WSW, at 6:47 am PDT on 14 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 52 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Brentwood

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) southwest of Brentwood, CA, at 12:40 pm PDT on 2 May 2022 (19:40 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 10km SW of Brentwood, CA

11 km (7 mi) SW of Brentwood, CA · 63 km (39 mi) N of San Jose, CA

12:40 pm PDT, May 2, 2022 · · 11 km deep · released about 79 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Contra Costa County 15 kmAlameda County 26 kmSan Joaquin County 47 kmSolano County 47 kmSan Mateo County 71 kmSanta Clara County 71 kmSacramento County 77 kmStanislaus County 77 kmNapa County 86 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
12:40 pm PDT on 2 May 2022 ()
Where
12 km (8 mi) southwest of Brentwood, CA · earthquakes near Brentwood
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Contra Costa County, 15 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Greenville fault, 3 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 1655 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Brentwood, 12 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.

Likely felt in: Brentwood 12 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 79 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 190,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 79 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 4.5 on 2019-10-15 — about 1,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 3 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 43 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 6 km NNE of East Foothills, California · 47 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 50 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 15 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 37.8587, -121.7985. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Contra Costa County, CA 15 km (9 mi) WNW earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Alameda County, CA 26 km (16 mi) SSW earthquakes near Alameda County
San Joaquin County, CA 47 km (29 mi) E earthquakes near San Joaquin County
Solano County, CA 47 km (29 mi) NNW earthquakes near Solano County
San Mateo County, CA 71 km (44 mi) SW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Santa Clara County, CA 71 km (44 mi) S earthquakes near Santa Clara County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 5km NW of Dublin, CA
  2. 1.5 5km WNW of Dublin, CA
  3. 1.6 5km NW of Dublin, CA
  4. 1.8 5km NW of Dublin, CA
  5. 1.6 8km NNE of Pleasanton, CA
  6. 1.8 3km E of Oakland, CA
  7. 1.8 3km NW of Orinda, CA
  8. 1.6 5km ENE of Walnut Creek, CA
  9. 2.2 9km NE of Milpitas, CA
  10. 1.8 3km NNE of San Leandro, CA
  11. 1.7 11km SE of Livermore, CA
  12. 1.8 12km SE of Livermore, CA
  13. 1.9 4km W of Pleasant Hill, CA
  14. 1.8 11km NE of Milpitas, CA
  15. 1.8 2km E of Walnut Creek, 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.