Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Milpitas, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Milpitas in the 24 hours to 10:22 pm PST (06:22 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (5 mi) NNE, at 5:49 am PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Milpitas
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) north-northeast of Milpitas, CA, at 4:40 pm PDT on 14 October 2022 (23:40 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 10km NNE of Milpitas, CA
24 km (15 mi) N of San Jose, CA · 7 km (5 mi) E of Fremont, CA
- When
- 4:40 pm PDT on 14 October 2022 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) north-northeast of Milpitas, CA · earthquakes near Milpitas
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alameda County, 16 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Hayward fault, 4 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 1485 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Milpitas, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Milpitas, 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 Milpitas, 10 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: Fremont, East Foothills, Newark, Union City, Pleasanton, San Jose.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 4.3 on 2019-07-16 — about 16,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 48 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 24 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 27 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 34 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 7 km NNW of Boulder Creek, California · 43 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 37.5065, -121.8577. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | 16 km (10 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 35 km (22 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 46 km (29 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | N | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 57 km (35 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 70 km (44 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Joaquin 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.
- 2.9 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 1.9 7km ESE of Pleasanton, CA
- 1.5 9km NNE of Milpitas, CA
- 1.9 3km E of Morgan Hill, CA
- 2.4 5km NNE of Diablo, CA
- 1.9 4km ENE of San Ramon, CA
- 2.7 2km SSW of Alamo, CA
- 1.6 2km W of Walnut Creek, CA
- 2.1 16km N of Morgan Hill, CA
- 1.6 6km ESE of Pleasanton, CA
- 1.6 15km N of Morgan Hill, CA
- 1.8 7km SE of Pleasanton, CA
- 2.8 9km NE of Alum Rock, CA
- 2.8 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 2.0 7km ESE of Pleasanton, 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.