QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

12km NNE of Hollister, CA

· 7.0 km deep · released about 720 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 43 kmSanta Clara County 44 kmSanta Cruz County 60 kmMerced County 61 kmStanislaus County 75 kmMonterey County 78 kmAlameda County 94 kmSan Mateo County 106 kmSan Joaquin County 111 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
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
32 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
San Benito County, 43 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1363 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 32 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 36.9417, -121.3347. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Benito County, CA 43 km (27 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near San Benito County
Santa Clara County, CA 44 km (28 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 60 km (37 mi) E of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Merced County, CA 61 km (38 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Merced County
Stanislaus County, CA 75 km (47 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Monterey County, CA 78 km (48 mi) N of here earthquakes near Monterey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 9km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  2. 2.0 4km ESE of Tres Pinos, CA
  3. 1.8 6km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 1.7 7km ESE of Prunedale, CA
  5. 1.7 2km ENE of Aromas, CA
  6. 1.8 1km W of Tres Pinos, CA
  7. 2.4 9km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
  8. 1.5 8km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
  9. 1.8 13km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 2.3 4km SE of Tres Pinos, CA
  11. 2.6 10km S of Tres Pinos, CA
  12. 2.7 16km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 2.1 17km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 2.1 8km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  15. 2.1 23km ESE of Tres Pinos, 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.