Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Livermore, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Livermore in the 24 hours to 7:26 pm PST (03:26 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 12 km (8 mi) SE, at 8:52 am PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Livermore
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) south-southwest of Livermore, CA, at 6:28 am PST on 22 January 2023 (14:28 UTC), 6.6 km deep.
USGS: 8km SSW of Livermore, CA
9 km (5 mi) SSW of Livermore, CA · 36 km (22 mi) N of San Jose, CA
- When
- 6:28 am PST on 22 January 2023 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) south-southwest of Livermore, CA · earthquakes near Livermore
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 6.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alameda County, 11 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Las Positas 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 1386 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Livermore, 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Livermore, 8 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: Pleasanton, Dublin, Fremont, Union City, Milpitas, Fairview.
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 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 35 km S of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 36 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 46 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 25 km N of this epicentre
- 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 18 km SSE 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 37.6152, -121.7985. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | 11 km (7 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 36 km (23 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Joaquin County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 70 km (43 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 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
- 1.7 9km E of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.8 10km NE of Milpitas, CA
- 2.5 12km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.6 12km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.7 12km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 2.4 12km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 2.2 15km N of Morgan Hill, 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
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.