Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 5.1mw
Earthquake near San Jose, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in San Jose in the 24 hours to 9:30 am PST (17:30 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 5.1 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) east of San Jose, CA, at 11:42 am PDT on 25 October 2022 (18:42 UTC), 8.4 km deep. 24,205 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 15km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
13 km (8 mi) E of San Jose, CA
- When
- 11:42 am PDT on 25 October 2022 ()
- Where
- 20 km (12 mi) east of San Jose, CA · earthquakes near San Jose
- Magnitude
- M 5.1 (mw)
- Depth
- 8.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- 24,205 reports · strongest reported intensity V
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- 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 212 days ago
Earthquake alerts for San Jose, CA
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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 moderate earthquake. Shaking at this size can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 200 km (124 mi) from the epicentre. In San Jose, 20 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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 20 km, intensity IV · Morgan Hill 20 km, intensity IV · Milpitas 24 km, intensity IV · Campbell 25 km, intensity IV · Santa Clara 25 km, intensity IV · Los Gatos 28 km, intensity IV · Saratoga 32 km, intensity IV · Cupertino 32 km, intensity IV. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 590 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 6.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 290× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 13× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 9.1× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 5.1 about 590 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1,200× 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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. The previous largest was M 4.2 on 2021-01-17.
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 · 1 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 17 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 37.3115, -121.6720. 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 (27 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 65 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
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 1.6 18km WSW of Westley, CA
- 1.8 2km E of Aromas, CA
- 1.6 15km N of Morgan Hill, CA
- 1.5 10km E of Gilroy, CA
- 1.6 5km WSW of Cupertino, CA
- 2.6 4km ESE of Aromas, CA
- 1.6 16km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 2.1 12km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 3.6 13km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.8 6km SSW of Gilroy, CA
- 1.8 3km WSW of Cupertino, CA
- 1.7 2km ENE of Aromas, CA
- 2.0 16km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 2.9 15km E of Seven Trees, 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.