QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Walnut Creek, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Walnut Creek in the 24 hours to 3:49 am PST (11:49 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 4 km (2 mi) N, at 4:05 am PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Walnut Creek

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east of Walnut Creek, CA, at 5:57 am PDT on 5 June 2023 (12:57 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 5km E of Walnut Creek, CA

in Walnut Creek, CA · 39 km (24 mi) ENE of San Francisco, CA

5:57 am PDT, Jun 5, 2023 · · 14 km deep · released about 9.3 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Walnut Creek Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Contra Costa County 5 kmAlameda County 30 kmSolano County 40 kmSan Mateo County 64 kmSan Joaquin County 64 kmMarin County 67 kmNapa County 72 kmSanta Clara County 82 kmSacramento County 83 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
5:57 am PDT on 5 June 2023 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) east of Walnut Creek, CA · earthquakes near Walnut Creek
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Contra Costa County, 5 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Greenville fault, 8 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 1255 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Walnut Creek, 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: Waldon, Contra Costa Centre, Pleasant Hill, Acalanes Ridge, Saranap, Clayton.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.3 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 4.5 on 2019-10-15 — about 16,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 43 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 22 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 44 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 32 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 The 1957 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 50 km WSW 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 37.9105, -122.0057. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Contra Costa County, CA 5 km (3 mi) ENE earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Alameda County, CA 30 km (19 mi) SSE earthquakes near Alameda County
Solano County, CA 40 km (25 mi) N earthquakes near Solano County
San Mateo County, CA 64 km (40 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Mateo County
San Joaquin County, CA 64 km (40 mi) E earthquakes near San Joaquin County
Marin County, CA 67 km (41 mi) WNW earthquakes near Marin 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. 2.2 1 km NE of San Leandro, CA
  2. 1.6 0 km WSW of Diablo, CA
  3. 2.5 3 km NNW of Piedmont, CA
  4. 1.8 6 km ESE of Santa Venetia, CA
  5. 1.8 8 km S of Byron, CA
  6. 1.5 6 km NNE of Orinda, CA
  7. 2.0 10 km SW of Brentwood, CA
  8. 2.1 10 km WSW of San Lorenzo, CA
  9. 1.7 2 km ENE of San Leandro, CA
  10. 1.9 3 km ESE of South San Francisco, CA
  11. 2.2 1 km NW of Green Valley, CA
  12. 2.1 4 km NNE of Fairview, CA
  13. 2.2 2 km NW of Concord, CA
  14. 1.8 10 km ESE of Black Point-Green Point, CA
  15. 1.8 1 km ENE of Pittsburg, 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.