QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Moraga, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Moraga in the 24 hours to 4:50 pm PST (00:50 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 13 km (8 mi) NNE, at 4:05 am PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Moraga

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Moraga, CA, at 7:18 am PST on 13 January 2024 (15:18 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 6 km SSE of Moraga, CA

11 km (7 mi) E of Oakland, CA · 10 km (6 mi) NNE of San Leandro, CA

7:18 am PST, Jan 13, 2024 · · 12 km deep · released about 7.8 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Contra Costa County 20 kmAlameda County 23 kmSan Mateo County 47 kmSolano County 56 kmMarin County 64 kmSanta Clara County 72 kmSan Joaquin County 75 kmSan Francisco County 82 kmNapa County 83 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
7:18 am PST on 13 January 2024 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Moraga, CA · earthquakes near Moraga
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Contra Costa County, 20 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Hayward fault, 6 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 1030 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 Moraga, 6 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: San Leandro, Alamo, Danville, Ashland, Castro Valley, San Ramon.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 19,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 40 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 30 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 50 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 6 km NNE of East Foothills, California · 48 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 35 km E 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 37.7837, -122.1018. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Contra Costa County, CA 20 km (12 mi) NE earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Alameda County, CA 23 km (14 mi) SE earthquakes near Alameda County
San Mateo County, CA 47 km (29 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Solano County, CA 56 km (35 mi) NNE earthquakes near Solano County
Marin County, CA 64 km (40 mi) WNW earthquakes near Marin County
Santa Clara County, CA 72 km (45 mi) SSE earthquakes near Santa Clara 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. 2.0 10 km ESE of Clayton, CA
  2. 1.7 10 km NE of Milpitas, CA
  3. 1.5 7 km E of Santa Venetia, CA
  4. 1.9 11 km E of Blackhawk, CA
  5. 1.6 4 km WSW of San Francisco Zoo, CA
  6. 2.6 3 km SE of Pleasant Hill, CA
  7. 2.0 8 km S of Muir Beach, CA
  8. 1.6 6 km ESE of Santa Venetia, CA
  9. 1.9 2 km NW of Alamo, CA
  10. 1.8 2 km SE of Pacheco, CA
  11. 2.4 3 km ESE of Berkeley, CA
  12. 1.8 3 km ENE of Oakland, CA
  13. 1.5 5 km E of Vallejo, CA
  14. 2.3 4 km NNW of American Canyon, CA
  15. 2.0 4 km SSW of San Francisco Zoo, 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.