QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near Livermore, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Livermore in the 24 hours to 7:25 pm PST (03:25 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 12 km (8 mi) SE, at 8:52 am PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Livermore

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) south-southwest of Livermore, CA, at 6:31 pm PST on 13 November 2023 (02:31 UTC), 9.7 km deep.

USGS: 8 km SSW of Livermore, CA

8 km (5 mi) SSW of Livermore, CA · 36 km (22 mi) N of San Jose, CA

6:31 pm PST, Nov 13, 2023 · · 9.7 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alameda County 10 kmContra Costa County 36 kmSanta Clara County 45 kmSan Mateo County 55 kmSan Joaquin County 58 kmSanta Cruz County 70 kmStanislaus County 70 kmSolano County 73 kmMarin County 96 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
6:31 pm PST on 13 November 2023 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) south-southwest of Livermore, CA · earthquakes near Livermore
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
9.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Alameda County, 10 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Las Positas 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 1085 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Livermore, 8 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: Pleasanton, Dublin, Fremont, Union City, Fairview, Milpitas.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 200,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 35 km S of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 36 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 46 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 25 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 18 km SSE 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 37.6177, -121.7993. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alameda County, CA 10 km (7 mi) WNW earthquakes near Alameda County
Contra Costa County, CA 36 km (22 mi) NNW earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Santa Clara County, CA 45 km (28 mi) SSE earthquakes near Santa Clara County
San Mateo County, CA 55 km (34 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Mateo County
San Joaquin County, CA 58 km (36 mi) NE earthquakes near San Joaquin County
Santa Cruz County, CA 70 km (43 mi) SSW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 3 km SW of San Ramon, CA
  2. 2.9 3 km SW of Discovery Bay, CA
  3. 1.6 2 km N of Byron, CA
  4. 2.3 3 km NNE of Byron, CA
  5. 3.5 2 km NNE of Byron, CA
  6. 1.6 2 km N of Byron, CA
  7. 1.5 9 km W of Brentwood, CA
  8. 1.6 0 km NE of Byron, CA
  9. 1.5 9 km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  10. 3.2 7 km E of Fremont, CA
  11. 1.6 5 km SW of Clayton, CA
  12. 2.4 2 km W of Concord, CA
  13. 1.6 2 km E of Hayward, CA
  14. 2.2 8 km W of Brentwood, CA
  15. 1.6 3 km E of Oakland, 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.