Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Milpitas, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Milpitas in the 24 hours to 6:04 am PST (14:04 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (5 mi) NNE, at 5:49 am PDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Milpitas
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) east-northeast of Milpitas, CA, at 10:14 am PDT on 31 October 2024 (17:14 UTC), 6.6 km deep.
USGS: 14 km ENE of Milpitas, CA
23 km (14 mi) N of San Jose, CA · 13 km (8 mi) NE of Milpitas, CA
- When
- 10:14 am PDT on 31 October 2024 ()
- Where
- 14 km (9 mi) east-northeast of Milpitas, CA · earthquakes near Milpitas
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 6.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alameda County, 21 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Calaveras 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 740 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Milpitas, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Milpitas, 14 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: East Foothills, Fremont, Livermore, Pleasanton, San Jose, Santa Clara.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 70,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 45 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 22 km S of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 22 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 33 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 7 km NNW of Boulder Creek, California · 48 km SW 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 37.4970, -121.7703. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | 21 km (13 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 31 km (20 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 54 km (33 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 66 km (41 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
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 2 km NE of San Leandro, CA
- 2.0 9 km ENE of San Martin, CA
- 3.3 9 km ENE of San Martin, CA
- 1.6 9 km SE of Sunol, CA
- 1.9 9 km ENE of San Martin, CA
- 2.9 9 km ENE of San Martin, CA
- 1.6 3 km W of Blackhawk, CA
- 1.6 0 km SSE of Danville, CA
- 1.9 9 km E of Alum Rock, CA
- 2.3 13 km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.9 9 km SW of Brentwood, CA
- 1.9 3 km S of Los Altos Hills, CA
- 2.2 2 km ENE of Discovery Bay, CA
- 1.6 3 km SW of Clayton, CA
- 2.8 10 km ESE of Alum Rock, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.