Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0md
Earthquake near Interlaken, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Interlaken in the 24 hours to 1:47 am PST (09:47 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 15 km (9 mi) SE, at 6:10 am PDT on 26 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 6 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Interlaken
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) east of Interlaken, CA, at 2:49 pm PDT on 5 May 2022 (21:49 UTC), 12 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 4km E of Interlaken, CA
8 km (5 mi) ENE of Watsonville, CA · 40 km (25 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 2:49 pm PDT on 5 May 2022 ()
- Where
- 4 km (3 mi) east of Interlaken, CA · earthquakes near Interlaken
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Santa Cruz County, 29 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Zayante-Vergeles fault, 5 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 1644 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Interlaken, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 Interlaken, 4 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: Watsonville 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 31 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 480,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 340,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 31× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 31 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 11,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 34 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 20 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 18 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 40 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 40 km N 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 36.9503, -121.6862. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 29 km (18 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 30 km (19 mi) | N | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| San Benito County, CA | 65 km (41 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 80 km (50 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Alameda County, CA | 80 km (50 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Monterey County, CA | 86 km (53 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Monterey County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 13km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.8 5km WSW of Ridgemark, CA
- 3.0 10km ESE of Gilroy, CA
- 1.9 13km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.9 4km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 2.1 3km ESE of Aromas, CA
- 1.7 2km E of Aromas, CA
- 2.4 15km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.2 4km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.9 2km SSW of Hollister, CA
- 2.3 2km SSW of Hollister, CA
- 2.7 15km N of Morgan Hill, CA
- 1.8 4km SSW of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.6 10km NE of San Martin, CA
- 2.0 8km NNE of Day Valley, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.