Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Soledad, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Soledad in the 24 hours to 2:08 pm PST (22:08 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) N, at 2:58 pm PDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Soledad
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 38 km (24 mi) east of Soledad, CA, at 3:50 pm PDT on 18 April 2023 (22:50 UTC), 17 km deep.
USGS: 21km WNW of New Idria, CA
- When
- 3:50 pm PDT on 18 April 2023 ()
- Where
- 38 km (24 mi) east of Soledad, CA · earthquakes near Soledad
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 17 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 23 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 11 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 1302 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Soledad, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Soledad, 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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Soledad, 38 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.6 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 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× 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 7.6 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 46,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 27 km E of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 41 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 38 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 22 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 43 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 36.4690, -120.9002. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 23 km (14 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | N | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Kings County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 16km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.0 23km NW of New Idria, CA
- 1.5 18km SE of New Idria, CA
- 1.8 6km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.6 6km WSW of New Idria, CA
- 2.0 4km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 4km ESE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.8 23km NE of King City, CA
- 1.7 12km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.5 8km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
- 1.9 1km N of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.0 10km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.5 4km SW of New Idria, CA
- 1.6 12km SE of Pinnacles, CA
- 2.1 14km ESE of Tres Pinos, 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.