QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

5km N of Hollister, CA

· 9.7 km deep · released about 720 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 42 kmSanta Clara County 45 kmSanta Cruz County 55 kmMerced County 69 kmMonterey County 73 kmStanislaus County 83 kmAlameda County 95 kmSan Mateo County 104 kmSan Joaquin County 117 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
Magnitude
M 2.9 (md)
Depth
9.7 km below the surface
Felt
55 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
San Benito County, 42 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1421 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 55 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 720 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 21,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 15,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 720 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.

Where

Epicentre 36.8903, -121.4040. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Benito County, CA 42 km (26 mi) NW of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Santa Clara County, CA 45 km (28 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 55 km (34 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Merced County, CA 69 km (43 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Merced County
Monterey County, CA 73 km (45 mi) N of here earthquakes near Monterey County
Stanislaus County, CA 83 km (51 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Stanislaus County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 5km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  2. 1.8 5km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 2.8 3km SSW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  4. 1.5 5km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 2.7 9km ENE of San Martin, CA
  6. 1.6 5km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 1.6 5km NNW of Aromas, CA
  8. 1.9 5km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  9. 2.2 5km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 2.4 5km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 1.6 5km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 2.4 5km NNE of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 3.2 16km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 2.2 6km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
  15. 2.2 4km ENE of Pinnacles, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — it released about 480 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.