QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Discovery Bay, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Discovery Bay in the 24 hours to 5:43 am PST (13:43 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 56 km (35 mi) SSE, at 7:21 am PDT on 27 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Discovery Bay

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) east-northeast of Discovery Bay, CA, at 5:11 am PST on 11 December 2023 (13:11 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 4 km ENE of Discovery Bay, CA

22 km (14 mi) WSW of Stockton, CA · 14 km (9 mi) E of Brentwood, CA

5:11 am PST, Dec 11, 2023 · · 18 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Joaquin County 25 kmContra Costa County 35 kmAlameda County 44 kmSolano County 51 kmSacramento County 62 kmStanislaus County 63 kmSanta Clara County 79 kmYolo County 90 kmSan Mateo County 91 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
5:11 am PST on 11 December 2023 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) east-northeast of Discovery Bay, CA · earthquakes near Discovery Bay
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Joaquin County, 25 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Greenville fault, 24 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 1067 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 Discovery Bay, 4 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: Byron, Knightsen, Brentwood, Bethel Island, Mountain House, Oakley.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 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 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 14,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 21 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 23 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 23 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 37.9215, -121.5550. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Joaquin County, CA 25 km (15 mi) E earthquakes near San Joaquin County
Contra Costa County, CA 35 km (22 mi) W earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Alameda County, CA 44 km (27 mi) SW earthquakes near Alameda County
Solano County, CA 51 km (32 mi) NW earthquakes near Solano County
Sacramento County, CA 62 km (38 mi) NNE earthquakes near Sacramento County
Stanislaus County, CA 63 km (39 mi) SE earthquakes near Stanislaus 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. 2.0 2 km NNE of Pleasant Hill, CA
  2. 1.7 10 km WSW of Mountain House, CA
  3. 2.8 2 km SSE of Pacheco, CA
  4. 2.3 7 km SSE of Elmira, CA
  5. 1.8 7 km SSE of Sunol, CA
  6. 1.7 2 km NNE of San Ramon, CA
  7. 2.5 7 km SSE of Sunol, CA
  8. 1.8 7 km SSE of Sunol, CA
  9. 1.9 2 km WNW of Diablo, CA
  10. 1.6 17 km SSE of Livermore, CA
  11. 1.5 2 km SW of Alamo, CA
  12. 2.5 4 km SW of Antioch, CA
  13. 2.1 4 km SW of Antioch, CA
  14. 1.5 14 km SSE of Livermore, CA
  15. 1.7 3 km E of Alamo, 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.