QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

Earthquake near Fremont, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Fremont in the 24 hours to 2:54 am PST (10:54 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 49 km (31 mi) ESE, at 7:21 am PDT on 27 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Fremont

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) east-southeast of Fremont, CA, at 9:35 am PST on 22 February 2024 (17:35 UTC), 7.4 km deep. 1,112 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 7 km E of Fremont, CA

5 km (3 mi) NE of Fremont, CA

9:35 am PST, Feb 22, 2024 · · 7.4 km deep · released about 1,700 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alameda County 13 kmSanta Clara County 40 kmContra Costa County 43 kmSan Mateo County 43 kmSanta Cruz County 59 kmSan Joaquin County 71 kmStanislaus County 80 kmSolano County 82 kmMarin County 94 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
9:35 am PST on 22 February 2024 ()
Where
7 km (5 mi) east-southeast of Fremont, CA · earthquakes near Fremont
Magnitude
M 3.2 (ml)
Depth
7.4 km below the surface
Felt
1,112 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Alameda County, 13 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Hayward 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 224 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 44 km (27 mi) from the epicentre. In Fremont, 7 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Fremont 7 km, intensity III · Milpitas 12 km, intensity III · Newark 12 km, intensity III · Union City 12 km, intensity III · Pleasanton 15 km, intensity III · Dublin 19 km, intensity III · Santa Clara 20 km, intensity II · Livermore 21 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,700 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,700 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× more

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 710 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 28 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 32 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 38 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 7 km NNW of Boulder Creek, California · 44 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 36 km NNE 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 37.5338, -121.9068. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alameda County, CA 13 km (8 mi) N earthquakes near Alameda County
Santa Clara County, CA 40 km (25 mi) SSE earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Contra Costa County, CA 43 km (27 mi) N earthquakes near Contra Costa County
San Mateo County, CA 43 km (27 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Santa Cruz County, CA 59 km (36 mi) S earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
San Joaquin County, CA 71 km (44 mi) NE earthquakes near San Joaquin County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 3 km N of San Leandro, CA
  2. 2.4 3 km N of San Leandro, CA
  3. 1.6 13 km NNE of Morgan Hill, CA
  4. 1.5 14 km SSE of Livermore, CA
  5. 2.1 9 km E of Milpitas, CA
  6. 1.5 6 km ENE of Burlingame, CA
  7. 1.9 16 km E of Seven Trees, CA
  8. 2.2 16 km E of Seven Trees, CA
  9. 1.7 3 km E of Alamo, CA
  10. 1.6 7 km N of Day Valley, CA
  11. 2.8 16 km E of Seven Trees, CA
  12. 1.6 2 km N of Livermore, CA
  13. 1.5 16 km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  14. 1.7 1 km NNW of Orinda, CA
  15. 1.8 1 km NNW of Orinda, 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.