QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

2km N of Lafayette, CA

· 11 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Contra Costa County 15 kmAlameda County 34 kmSolano County 43 kmMarin County 57 kmSan Mateo County 59 kmNapa County 69 kmSan Joaquin County 75 kmSan Francisco County 82 kmSanta Clara County 85 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
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Contra Costa County, 15 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1206 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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.

Where

Epicentre 37.9033, -122.1207. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Contra Costa County, CA 15 km (9 mi) W of here earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Alameda County, CA 34 km (21 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Alameda County
Solano County, CA 43 km (27 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Solano County
Marin County, CA 57 km (36 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Marin County
San Mateo County, CA 59 km (36 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near San Mateo County
Napa County, CA 69 km (43 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Napa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 8 km S of Byron, CA
  2. 1.5 6 km NNE of Orinda, CA
  3. 2.0 10 km SW of Brentwood, CA
  4. 2.1 10 km WSW of San Lorenzo, CA
  5. 1.7 2 km ENE of San Leandro, CA
  6. 2.0 7 km NW of San Francisco Zoo, CA
  7. 1.9 3 km ESE of South San Francisco, CA
  8. 2.0 1 km E of Pacifica, CA
  9. 2.3 1 km E of Pacifica, CA
  10. 2.2 1 km NW of Green Valley, CA
  11. 1.5 4 km ESE of Pacifica, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.5 on 2019-10-15 — it released about 10,000 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

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