Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Gilroy, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Gilroy in the 24 hours to 12:14 pm PST (20:14 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 9 km (6 mi) E, at 7:27 pm PST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Gilroy
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) east of Gilroy, CA, at 2:36 pm PST on 10 December 2022 (22:36 UTC), 7.0 km deep.
USGS: 10km E of Gilroy, CA
12 km (7 mi) E of Gilroy, CA · 46 km (28 mi) SE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 2:36 pm PST on 10 December 2022 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) east of Gilroy, CA · earthquakes near Gilroy
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 7.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Clara County, 32 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Calaveras fault, 3 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 1429 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Gilroy, 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 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Gilroy, 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: San Martin, Hollister, San Juan Bautista, Aromas, Ridgemark, Morgan Hill.
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 5.1 on 2022-10-25 — about 220,000 times the energy of this one.
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 · 38 km W of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 20 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 45 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 40 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 38 km NW 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 37.0043, -121.4510. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County, CA | 32 km (20 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 49 km (31 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| San Benito County, CA | 54 km (34 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Merced County, CA | 68 km (42 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 74 km (46 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| Alameda County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
40 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.8 3km SSW of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 2.1 9km NE of San Martin, CA
- 2.2 15km N of Morgan Hill, CA
- 2.3 10km WSW of Ridgemark, CA
- 2.3 16km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 17km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.0 17km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 2km SSW of Hollister, CA
- 1.7 10km E of Alum Rock, CA
- 2.4 9km ENE of San Martin, CA
- 1.8 9km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.6 9km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.6 4km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.7 2km E of Aromas, CA
- 1.5 7km NE of Salinas, 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.