QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near San Jose, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in San Jose in the 24 hours to 3:30 pm PST (23:30 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 1.9 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) east-southeast of San Jose, CA, at 10:57 am PDT on 19 May 2023 (17:57 UTC), 5.9 km deep.

USGS: 15km E of Seven Trees, CA

12 km (8 mi) E of San Jose, CA

10:57 am PDT, May 19, 2023 · · 5.9 km deep · released about 25 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Jose Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Clara County 9 kmSanta Cruz County 44 kmAlameda County 44 kmSan Mateo County 63 kmStanislaus County 66 kmContra Costa County 73 kmSan Joaquin County 79 kmMerced County 85 kmSan Benito County 93 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
10:57 am PDT on 19 May 2023 ()
Where
20 km (12 mi) east-southeast of San Jose, CA · earthquakes near San Jose
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
5.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Clara County, 9 km S
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 1272 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In San Jose, 20 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: East Foothills, Morgan Hill, Campbell, San Martin, Milpitas, Santa Clara.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 25 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 620,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 440,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 39× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 48,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 25 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 35 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 21 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 11 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 1 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 16 km SW 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 37.3013, -121.6743. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Clara County, CA 9 km (6 mi) S earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 44 km (27 mi) SW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Alameda County, CA 44 km (27 mi) NNW earthquakes near Alameda County
San Mateo County, CA 63 km (39 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Stanislaus County, CA 66 km (41 mi) ENE earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Contra Costa County, CA 73 km (45 mi) NNW earthquakes near Contra Costa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 3 km ESE of Aromas, CA
  2. 2.0 6 km SW of Gilroy, CA
  3. 2.5 10 km ENE of Morgan Hill, CA
  4. 2.4 11 km NNE of Alum Rock, CA
  5. 2.1 11 km NNE of Alum Rock, CA
  6. 2.5 14 km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  7. 2.6 14 km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  8. 1.9 8 km ENE of Gilroy, CA
  9. 1.5 8 km NE of Milpitas, CA
  10. 2.3 9 km NE of Milpitas, CA
  11. 3.6 14 km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  12. 1.7 15 km E of Seven Trees, CA
  13. 1.6 4 km SSW of Lexington Hills, CA
  14. 1.9 1 km ENE of Aromas, CA
  15. 1.5 2 km E of Aromas, 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.