Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Interlaken, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Interlaken in the 24 hours to 3:43 pm PST (23:43 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 15 km (9 mi) SE, at 6:10 am PDT on 26 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 6 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Interlaken
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Interlaken, CA, at 3:45 am PDT on 25 April 2023 (10:45 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 5km ESE of Interlaken, CA
8 km (5 mi) E of Watsonville, CA · 42 km (26 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 3:45 am PDT on 25 April 2023 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Interlaken, CA · earthquakes near Interlaken
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Cruz County, 30 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Zayante-Vergeles 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 1296 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Interlaken, CA
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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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Interlaken, 5 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: Aromas, Pajaro, Watsonville, Las Lomas, Amesti, Corralitos.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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 130,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 34 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 21 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 20 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 48 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 42 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 42 km N 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 36.9322, -121.6837. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 30 km (19 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 32 km (20 mi) | N | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| San Benito County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 81 km (50 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Alameda County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Monterey County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Monterey County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 5km NNW of Day Valley, CA
- 1.7 4km SW of Felton, CA
- 1.6 13km ESE of Gilroy, CA
- 1.8 1km WSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.0 7km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 2.0 16km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.7 16km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 2.6 16km SSE of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.7 12km ESE of Gilroy, CA
- 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
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.