QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Morgan Hill, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Morgan Hill in the 24 hours to 2:31 am PST (10:31 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 20 km (13 mi) N, at 12:38 pm PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Morgan Hill

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Morgan Hill, CA, at 12:19 pm PDT on 2 August 2023 (19:19 UTC), 7.3 km deep. 8 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 10 km ENE of Morgan Hill, CA

26 km (16 mi) ESE of San Jose, CA · 19 km (12 mi) N of Gilroy, CA

12:19 pm PDT, Aug 2, 2023 · · 7.3 km deep · released about 180 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Morgan Hill Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Clara County 13 kmSanta Cruz County 44 kmAlameda County 61 kmStanislaus County 65 kmMerced County 74 kmSan Benito County 75 kmSan Mateo County 77 kmSan Joaquin County 88 kmContra Costa County 90 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
12:19 pm PDT on 2 August 2023 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Morgan Hill, CA · earthquakes near Morgan Hill
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
7.3 km below the surface
Felt
8 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Santa Clara County, 13 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Calaveras fault, 4 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 1132 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Morgan Hill, 10 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: Morgan Hill 10 km, intensity II · Gilroy 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 180 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 83,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 59,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 6,500 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 28 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 33 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 10 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 26 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 18 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 22 km W 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 37.1767, -121.5555. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Clara County, CA 13 km (8 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 44 km (27 mi) WSW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Alameda County, CA 61 km (38 mi) NNW earthquakes near Alameda County
Stanislaus County, CA 65 km (40 mi) NE earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Merced County, CA 74 km (46 mi) E earthquakes near Merced County
San Benito County, CA 75 km (47 mi) SE earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 2 km ENE of Aromas, CA
  2. 1.6 11 km W of Patterson, CA
  3. 3.0 10 km WSW of Patterson, CA
  4. 1.5 17 km WSW of Patterson, CA
  5. 1.5 18 km WSW of Patterson, CA
  6. 1.5 18 km SW of Westley, CA
  7. 2.0 17 km WSW of Patterson, CA
  8. 2.0 14 km WSW of Patterson, CA
  9. 3.1 16 km WSW of Patterson, CA
  10. 1.8 17 km WSW of Patterson, CA
  11. 2.1 17 km WSW of Patterson, CA
  12. 1.8 11 km WSW of Patterson, CA
  13. 3.0 16 km WSW of Patterson, CA
  14. 1.6 16 km SW of Westley, CA
  15. 2.3 16 km WSW of Patterson, 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.