Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Gilroy, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Gilroy in the 24 hours to 4:19 pm PST (00:19 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 9 km (6 mi) E, at 7:27 pm PST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Gilroy
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) west-southwest of Gilroy, CA, at 7:25 am PDT on 29 April 2023 (14:25 UTC), 5.5 km deep.
USGS: 8km WSW of Gilroy, CA
6 km (4 mi) WSW of Gilroy, CA · 38 km (24 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 7:25 am PDT on 29 April 2023 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) west-southwest of Gilroy, CA · earthquakes near Gilroy
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 5.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Clara County, 27 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Sargent fault, 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 1290 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Gilroy, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Gilroy, 8 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: Gilroy 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.1 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 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× 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 7.1 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 170,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 32 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 22 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 15 km N of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 38 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 37 km N of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 28 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 36.9798, -121.6463. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | N | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 32 km (20 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| San Benito County, CA | 65 km (40 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Alameda County, CA | 78 km (48 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 80 km (50 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Merced County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Merced County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 6km SSW of Gilroy, CA
- 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
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.