Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.4ml
Earthquake near San Jose, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in San Jose in the 24 hours to 9:49 pm PST (05:49 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 19 km (12 mi) E, at 12:38 pm PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Jose
This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) east of San Jose, CA, at 3:55 pm PDT on 4 September 2022 (22:55 UTC), 7.8 km deep. 342 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 14km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
12 km (8 mi) E of San Jose, CA
- When
- 3:55 pm PDT on 4 September 2022 ()
- Where
- 19 km (12 mi) east of San Jose, CA · earthquakes near San Jose
- Magnitude
- M 3.4 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- 342 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Santa Clara County, 10 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Calaveras fault, under 1 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 1457 days ago
Earthquake alerts for San Jose, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near San Jose, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 55 km (34 mi) from the epicentre. In San Jose, 19 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: San Jose 19 km, intensity III · Morgan Hill 20 km, intensity III · Milpitas 24 km, intensity II · Campbell 24 km, intensity II · Santa Clara 25 km, intensity II · Los Gatos 28 km, intensity II · Saratoga 31 km, intensity II · Cupertino 31 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.7 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 100,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,600× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,200× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.7 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 3.5× more
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 4.2 on 2021-01-17 — about 18 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 25 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 36 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 23 km S of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 11 km W of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 0 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 16 km SW 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 37.3122, -121.6782. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County, CA | 10 km (6 mi) | S | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Alameda County, CA | 43 km (26 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 44 km (28 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 62 km (39 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Contra Costa 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.
- 2.3 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 2.1 16km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 1.5 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 2.7 14km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.6 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 2.0 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 3.5 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 2.4 16km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 1.5 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 2.2 11km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 2.9 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 5.1 15km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 2.3 10km NW of Westley, CA
- 1.6 9km ENE of San Martin, CA
- 2.6 9km ENE of San Martin, 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.