QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0md

Earthquake near Salinas, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 2:50 pm PST (22:50 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 18 km (11 mi) ENE, at 5:38 am PDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Salinas

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 28 km (18 mi) east of Salinas, CA, at 3:02 am PDT on 15 July 2023 (10:02 UTC), 2.5 km deep.

USGS: 10 km S of Tres Pinos, CA

78 km (49 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA · 26 km (16 mi) E of Salinas, CA

3:02 am PDT, Jul 15, 2023 · · 2.5 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salinas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 25 kmMonterey County 52 kmSanta Clara County 65 kmSanta Cruz County 69 kmMerced County 77 kmStanislaus County 100 kmAlameda County 116 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
3:02 am PDT on 15 July 2023 ()
Where
28 km (18 mi) east of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
Magnitude
M 2.0 (md)
Depth
2.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 25 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas 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 1215 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 28 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: Ridgemark, Hollister, Chualar, San Juan Bautista, Gonzales, Boronda.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — about 12,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 11 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 42 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 9 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 14 km NW 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 36.7040, -121.3400. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 25 km (15 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 52 km (32 mi) S earthquakes near Monterey County
Santa Clara County, CA 65 km (41 mi) NNW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 69 km (43 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Merced County, CA 77 km (48 mi) NE earthquakes near Merced County
Stanislaus County, CA 100 km (62 mi) NNE earthquakes near Stanislaus County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 4 km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
  2. 1.6 2 km SW of Tres Pinos, CA
  3. 2.5 8 km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 2.0 8 km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 2.1 16 km S of Tres Pinos, CA
  6. 1.6 10 km NNE of Hollister, CA
  7. 1.9 2 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  8. 2.6 8 km NE of Gilroy, CA
  9. 1.5 2 km NE of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 1.8 2 km ENE of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 2.1 4 km WSW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  12. 1.9 12 km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 2.7 3 km ESE of Aromas, CA
  14. 1.6 4 km NNW of Aromas, CA
  15. 1.6 5 km NNW of Pinnacles, 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.