QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2md

Earthquake near San Jose, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in San Jose in the 24 hours to 1:34 pm PST (21:34 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 19 km (12 mi) E, at 12:38 pm PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Jose

This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) north of San Jose, CA, at 9:12 pm PDT on 26 April 2023 (04:12 UTC), 5.9 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 7km SSE of Sunol, CA

28 km (17 mi) N of San Jose, CA · 9 km (6 mi) NE of Fremont, CA

9:12 pm PDT, Apr 26, 2023 · · 5.9 km deep · released about 60 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Jose Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alameda County 12 kmSanta Clara County 39 kmContra Costa County 42 kmSan Mateo County 48 kmSanta Cruz County 61 kmSan Joaquin County 67 kmStanislaus County 75 kmSolano County 80 kmMarin County 96 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
9:12 pm PDT on 26 April 2023 ()
Where
23 km (14 mi) north of San Jose, CA · earthquakes near San Jose
Magnitude
M 2.2 (md)
Depth
5.9 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Alameda County, 12 km NNW
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 1294 days ago

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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In San Jose, 23 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.

Likely felt in: Fremont 11 km, intensity II · Pleasanton 13 km, intensity II · Milpitas 14 km, intensity II · Union City 15 km, intensity II · Newark 16 km, intensity II · Livermore 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 60 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 16× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 60 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 19,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 28 km S of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 31 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 39 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 7 km NNW of Boulder Creek, California · 47 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 34 km NNE 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 37.5467, -121.8583. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alameda County, CA 12 km (8 mi) NNW earthquakes near Alameda County
Santa Clara County, CA 39 km (24 mi) SSE earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Contra Costa County, CA 42 km (26 mi) N earthquakes near Contra Costa County
San Mateo County, CA 48 km (30 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Santa Cruz County, CA 61 km (38 mi) SSW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
San Joaquin County, CA 67 km (42 mi) NE earthquakes near San Joaquin County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.5 8 km NE of Milpitas, CA
  2. 2.3 9 km NE of Milpitas, CA
  3. 3.6 14 km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  4. 1.7 15 km E of Seven Trees, CA
  5. 1.6 4 km SSW of Lexington Hills, CA
  6. 2.7 3 km N of Piedmont, CA
  7. 1.8 9 km E of Blackhawk, CA
  8. 1.9 12 km NE of Milpitas, CA
  9. 2.6 11 km E of Alum Rock, CA
  10. 3.0 10 km E of Alum Rock, CA
  11. 2.2 10 km E of Alum Rock, CA
  12. 2.0 13 km WNW of Westley, CA
  13. 2.1 3 km NW of Castro Valley, CA
  14. 2.1 5 km ESE of Oakland, CA
  15. 1.9 24 km NE of Alum Rock, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.