Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Byron, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Byron in the 24 hours to 12:14 am PST (08:14 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 53 km (33 mi) SSE, at 7:21 am PDT on 27 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Byron
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) northwest of Byron, CA, at 3:35 am PST on 8 December 2022 (11:35 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 3km NW of Byron, CA
8 km (5 mi) SE of Brentwood, CA · 67 km (41 mi) NNE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 3:35 am PST on 8 December 2022 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) northwest of Byron, CA · earthquakes near Byron
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Contra Costa County, 26 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Greenville fault, 14 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 1433 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Byron, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Byron, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 1 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Byron, 3 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: Discovery Bay, Brentwood, Knightsen, Oakley, Bethel Island, Mountain House.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.1 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 4.5 on 2019-10-15 — about 18,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 10 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 45 km S of this epicentre
- 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 15 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 13 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 37.8825, -121.6622. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contra Costa County, CA | 26 km (16 mi) | W | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Alameda County, CA | 34 km (21 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 35 km (22 mi) | E | earthquakes near San Joaquin County |
| Solano County, CA | 49 km (31 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 68 km (42 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| Sacramento County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Sacramento 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.
- 2.8 6km SW of Antioch, CA
- 2.2 6km SSW of Antioch, CA
- 2.4 6km SSW of Antioch, CA
- 2.3 6km SSW of Antioch, CA
- 2.0 9km W of Brentwood, CA
- 1.7 9km ESE of Clayton, CA
- 1.7 9km ESE of Clayton, CA
- 3.6 9km ESE of Clayton, CA
- 1.8 5km S of Concord, CA
- 1.8 10km NE of Milpitas, CA
- 1.5 9km ESE of Clayton, CA
- 1.9 3km NW of Pittsburg, CA
- 2.2 3km NNE of San Leandro, CA
- 3.0 3km NNE of San Leandro, CA
- 2.7 3km NNE of San Leandro, 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.