Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.2ml
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 3.2 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) north-northwest of Hollister, CA, at 2:13 am PDT on 21 April 2023 (09:13 UTC), 3.9 km deep. 32 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 11km NNW of Hollister, CA
15 km (9 mi) ESE of Gilroy, CA · 52 km (32 mi) SE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 2:13 am PDT on 21 April 2023 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) north-northwest of Hollister, CA · earthquakes near Hollister
- Magnitude
- M 3.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 32 reports · strongest reported intensity V
- Nearest
- Santa Clara County, 39 km NW
- 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 1228 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 44 km (27 mi) from the epicentre. In Hollister, 10 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 10 km, intensity III · Gilroy 14 km, intensity III · Prunedale 27 km, intensity II · Watsonville 28 km, intensity II · Morgan Hill 29 km, intensity II · Salinas 35 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,700 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 200,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,100× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,500× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,700 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× 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 5.1 on 2022-10-25 — about 710 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 26 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 41 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 26 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 46 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 43 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 30 km SE 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 36.9380, -121.4398. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| San Benito County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 51 km (32 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Merced County, CA | 70 km (43 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Monterey County, CA | 78 km (49 mi) | S | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 10km E of Gilroy, CA
- 1.7 12km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.1 10km E of Gilroy, CA
- 1.7 8km WSW of Ridgemark, CA
- 2.0 10km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.1 14km ESE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.6 7km NNE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.5 2km E of Aromas, CA
- 1.6 10km SW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.1 5km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 1.9 15km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 2.6 2km SW of Hollister, CA
- 1.5 12km S of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.2 16km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 3.1 16km SSE 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.