QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near San Jose, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in San Jose in the 24 hours to 1:34 pm PST (21:34 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 19 km (12 mi) E, at 12:38 pm PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Jose

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) east-southeast of San Jose, CA, at 6:59 pm PST on 20 February 2023 (02:59 UTC), 5.8 km deep.

USGS: 16km E of Seven Trees, CA

14 km (9 mi) E of San Jose, CA

6:59 pm PST, Feb 20, 2023 · · 5.8 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Jose Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Clara County 7 kmSanta Cruz County 43 kmAlameda County 47 kmSan Mateo County 65 kmStanislaus County 66 kmContra Costa County 76 kmSan Joaquin County 80 kmMerced County 83 kmSan Benito County 90 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
6:59 pm PST on 20 February 2023 ()
Where
22 km (14 mi) east-southeast of San Jose, CA · earthquakes near San Jose
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
5.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Clara County, 7 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Calaveras 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 1356 days ago

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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In San Jose, 22 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: Morgan Hill, East Foothills, San Martin, Campbell, Milpitas, Santa Clara.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 70,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 34 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 19 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 13 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 4 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 15 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 37.2798, -121.6572. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Clara County, CA 7 km (4 mi) SSW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 43 km (27 mi) SW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Alameda County, CA 47 km (29 mi) NNW earthquakes near Alameda County
San Mateo County, CA 65 km (40 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Stanislaus County, CA 66 km (41 mi) ENE earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Contra Costa County, CA 76 km (47 mi) NNW earthquakes near Contra Costa 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. 1.6 2km E of Union City, CA
  2. 2.2 2km ENE of Union City, CA
  3. 2.3 11km ENE of Milpitas, CA
  4. 1.6 11km NNE of Hollister, CA
  5. 1.9 14km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  6. 1.6 2km E of Aromas, CA
  7. 1.5 2km WSW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  8. 2.0 14km ENE of Seven Trees, CA
  9. 1.6 16km E of Seven Trees, CA
  10. 1.7 12km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
  11. 1.6 2km E of Aromas, CA
  12. 2.0 5km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  13. 1.6 9km NNE of San Juan Bautista, CA
  14. 1.6 9km NE of Milpitas, CA
  15. 1.6 8km WSW of Gilroy, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.