Earthquake near Santa Cruz, CA

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 20 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Cruz, 13 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.

Likely felt in: Santa Cruz 13 km, intensity II · Live Oak 18 km, intensity II · Capitola 20 km, intensity II · Scotts Valley 20 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 140 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 110,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 78,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6.9× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 140 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 4.2 on 2021-01-17 — about 440 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 28 km ENE of this epicentre Oct 18, 1989
2. 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 12 km SSW of this epicentre Oct 22, 1926
3. 6.3 16 km SW of Davenport, California · 16 km W of this epicentre Oct 22, 1926
4. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 45 km NE of this epicentre Jun 11, 1903
5. 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 41 km E of this epicentre Mar 11, 1910

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 36.9132, -122.1602. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.5 6km NNW of Aromas, CA 06:59 UTC
2. 2.4 7km WSW of Gilroy, CA 01:39 UTC
3. 1.9 6km SSE of Portola Valley, CA 20:16 UTC
4. 1.5 6km SW of Gilroy, CA 18:27 UTC
5. 2.2 5km S of Loyola, CA 04:57 UTC
6. 2.0 8km W of Saratoga, CA 06:32 UTC
7. 1.8 4km SSW of Cupertino, CA 07:11 UTC
8. 1.7 2km E of Aromas, CA 19:40 UTC
9. 1.7 7km WSW of Gilroy, CA 01:33 UTC
10. 1.8 2km E of Aromas, CA 03:59 UTC
11. 1.6 5km WSW of Cupertino, CA 12:31 UTC
12. 1.8 3km WSW of Cupertino, CA 05:26 UTC
13. 1.7 2km ENE of Aromas, CA 19:14 UTC
14. 1.7 3km SSE of Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley, CA 07:34 UTC
15. 2.1 10km SW of Bonny Doon, CA 19:16 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 06:13 UTC. 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.