QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Soledad, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Soledad in the 24 hours to 1:47 am PST (09:47 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 2.3 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) east of Soledad, CA, at 10:46 pm PDT on 16 July 2022 (05:46 UTC), 9.9 km deep.

USGS: 16km SE of Pinnacles, CA

10:46 pm PDT, Jul 16, 2022 · · 9.9 km deep · released about 85 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 20 kmMonterey County 36 kmMerced County 87 kmSanta Clara County 106 kmSanta Cruz County 110 kmKings County 114 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
10:46 pm PDT on 16 July 2022 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) east of Soledad, CA · earthquakes near Soledad
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
9.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 20 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas 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 1576 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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Soledad, 29 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: Greenfield, King City.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 85 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 5.8 180,000× 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 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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 4,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 36 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 37 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 33 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 26 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 37 km NW 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 36.4465, -121.0008. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 20 km (12 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 36 km (23 mi) SW earthquakes near Monterey County
Merced County, CA 87 km (54 mi) NNE earthquakes near Merced County
Santa Clara County, CA 106 km (66 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 110 km (68 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Kings County, CA 114 km (71 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kings County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 8km NE of New Idria, CA
  2. 1.6 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 1.5 14km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
  4. 1.7 10km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 1.9 10km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  6. 2.2 11km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 1.9 22km ENE of San Lucas, CA
  8. 1.7 5km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  9. 2.1 3km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 1.7 4km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 1.9 4km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 1.7 3km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 2.5 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 1.7 9km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  15. 1.5 23km W of New Idria, 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.