Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8md
Earthquake near Hollister, CA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Hollister in the last 24 hours. M 2.0, 14 km (9 mi) WSW of Hollister, at 2:11 am PST on 11 November 2026 (10:11 UTC); the estimated shaking in Hollister was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Hollister
This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) southeast of Hollister, CA, at 9:32 pm PDT on 31 March 2023 (04:32 UTC), 10 km deep. 17 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 1km N of Tres Pinos, CA
70 km (44 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 31 km (19 mi) ENE of Salinas, CA
- When
- 9:32 pm PDT on 31 March 2023 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) southeast of Hollister, CA · earthquakes near Hollister
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- 17 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 30 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Quien Sabe 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 1257 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hollister, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Hollister, CA. No account or email needed.
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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Hollister, 9 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.
Likely felt in: Hollister 9 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 420 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 36,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 26,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.3× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.8 about 420 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 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — about 840 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 45 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 12 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 38 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 16 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 38 km NNW 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 36.8015, -121.3192. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 30 km (18 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 57 km (35 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Monterey County, CA | 62 km (39 mi) | S | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Merced County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 89 km (55 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 2km E of Aromas, CA
- 1.5 2km WSW of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.9 7km NE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 2km E of Aromas, CA
- 3.1 4km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.9 16km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.7 5km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.6 9km NNE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.9 9km E of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 8km WSW of Gilroy, CA
- 2.3 8km NW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 5km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 8km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.2 10km E of Gilroy, CA
- 1.6 5km ESE of Interlaken, 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.