Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Soledad, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Soledad in the 24 hours to 6:08 am PST (14:08 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) N, at 2:58 pm PDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Soledad
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 49 km (30 mi) south-southwest of Soledad, CA, at 5:26 am PDT on 6 May 2022 (12:26 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 2km E of Lopez Point, CA
- When
- 5:26 am PDT on 6 May 2022 ()
- Where
- 49 km (30 mi) south-southwest of Soledad, CA · earthquakes near Soledad
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Monterey County, 32 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Gregorio fault, 2 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 1645 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Soledad, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Soledad, CA. No account or email needed.
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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Soledad, 49 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.1 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.1 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 2021-10-25 — about 35,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.2 28km NW of Cambria, CA · 38 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.2 25 km NW of San Simeon, California · 27 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.2 22 km NW of San Simeon, California · 30 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.1 3 km W of Soledad, California · 48 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 8 km WSW of San Ardo, California · 49 km E 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 36.0203, -121.5452. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | 32 km (20 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 78 km (48 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 121 km (75 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
20 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 17km NNE of San Simeon, CA
- 1.6 16km NNW of San Simeon, CA
- 2.3 24km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
- 2.6 14km NNW of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.8 20km WSW of San Simeon, CA
- 1.5 11km W of San Ardo, CA
- 1.9 28km WSW of Lopez Point, CA
- 2.0 18km NW of San Simeon, CA
- 1.8 13km NNW of San Simeon, CA
- 1.7 20km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
- 2.7 25km NW of San Simeon, CA
- 1.6 19km NW of San Simeon, CA
- 2.0 10km NNE of San Simeon, CA
- 2.2 18km NNW of San Simeon, CA
- 2.0 10km N of San Simeon, 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.