Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Milpitas, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Milpitas in the 24 hours to 2:53 pm PST (22:53 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (5 mi) NNE, at 5:49 am PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Milpitas
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) east-northeast of Milpitas, CA, at 12:38 pm PST on 15 February 2023 (20:38 UTC), 6.7 km deep.
USGS: 12km ENE of Milpitas, CA
20 km (13 mi) N of San Jose, CA · 11 km (7 mi) ENE of Milpitas, CA
- When
- 12:38 pm PST on 15 February 2023 ()
- Where
- 12 km (8 mi) east-northeast of Milpitas, CA · earthquakes near Milpitas
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 6.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alameda County, 22 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Calaveras fault, 4 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 1359 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Milpitas, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Milpitas, 12 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: East Foothills, San Jose, Fremont, Santa Clara, Pleasanton, Livermore.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.1 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 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 5.1 on 2022-10-25 — about 170,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 50 km S of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 43 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 20 km S of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 21 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 31 km S 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 37.4772, -121.7833. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | 22 km (14 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 30 km (18 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 51 km (32 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 52 km (33 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 68 km (42 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Joaquin County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 14km N of Morgan Hill, CA
- 2.0 14km ENE of Seven Trees, CA
- 1.6 16km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 1.6 2km S of Blackhawk, CA
- 2.0 2km S of Blackhawk, CA
- 1.8 2km S of Blackhawk, CA
- 2.0 2km S of Blackhawk, CA
- 1.7 12km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 2.0 5km NE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.6 9km NE of Milpitas, CA
- 2.1 9km E of Alum Rock, CA
- 2.3 9km E of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.9 7km NE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.5 8km NE of Alum Rock, CA
- 2.2 7km SSE of Sunol, 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.