QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near Gustine, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Gustine in the 24 hours to 3:42 pm PST (23:42 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 23 km (14 mi) WSW, at 9:18 pm PDT on 21 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Gustine

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) west-southwest of Gustine, CA, at 1:23 am PDT on 20 March 2023 (08:23 UTC), 1.1 km deep.

USGS: 22km WSW of Gustine, CA

51 km (32 mi) E of San Jose, CA · 38 km (24 mi) NE of Gilroy, CA

1:23 am PDT, Mar 20, 2023 · · 1.1 km deep · released about 26 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Clara County 39 kmStanislaus County 44 kmMerced County 46 kmSan Benito County 69 kmSanta Cruz County 71 kmAlameda County 76 kmSan Joaquin County 80 kmContra Costa County 100 kmSan Mateo County 102 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
1:23 am PDT on 20 March 2023 ()
Where
22 km (14 mi) west-southwest of Gustine, CA · earthquakes near Gustine
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
1.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Clara County, 39 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Ortigalita 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 1330 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Gustine, 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: Newman.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 26 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 580,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 410,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 36× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 26 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 45,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 37 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 49 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 27 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 49 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 37.2150, -121.2440. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Clara County, CA 39 km (25 mi) W earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Stanislaus County, CA 44 km (27 mi) NNE earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Merced County, CA 46 km (29 mi) E earthquakes near Merced County
San Benito County, CA 69 km (43 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Benito County
Santa Cruz County, CA 71 km (44 mi) WSW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Alameda County, CA 76 km (47 mi) NW earthquakes near Alameda County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

47 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 7km NNE of Tres Pinos, CA
  2. 1.5 2km E of Aromas, CA
  3. 1.5 10km E of Alum Rock, CA
  4. 1.9 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
  5. 2.6 2km SW of Hollister, CA
  6. 1.6 11km NNE of Hollister, CA
  7. 2.0 2km N of Hollister, CA
  8. 1.9 14km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  9. 1.6 2km E of Aromas, CA
  10. 2.0 14km ENE of Seven Trees, CA
  11. 1.6 16km E of Seven Trees, CA
  12. 1.7 12km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
  13. 1.6 2km E of Aromas, CA
  14. 1.6 9km NNE of San Juan Bautista, 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.