Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.4mw
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 4.4 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) southeast of Hollister, CA, at 3:23 pm PDT on 4 April 2023 (22:23 UTC), 10 km deep. 12,209 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 1km NNW of Tres Pinos, CA
70 km (44 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 30 km (19 mi) ENE of Salinas, CA
- When
- 3:23 pm PDT on 4 April 2023 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) southeast of Hollister, CA · earthquakes near Hollister
- Magnitude
- M 4.4 (mw)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- 12,209 reports · strongest reported intensity V
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 30 km SE
- 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 666 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 light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 130 km (81 mi) from the epicentre. In Hollister, 9 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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 IV · Prunedale 31 km, intensity III · Gilroy 32 km, intensity III · Salinas 33 km, intensity III · Watsonville 40 km, intensity III · Soledad 42 km, intensity III · Morgan Hill 47 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 62 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 2,700× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 120× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 86× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.4 about 62 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 130× more
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 2.8 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 · 44 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 · 37 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 36.8010, -121.3230. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 30 km (19 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 | 65 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.
- 2.0 3km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 2km N of Hollister, CA
- 1.7 11km SSW of Ridgemark, CA
- 1.7 5km E of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 8km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 11km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 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
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.