QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Blackhawk, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Blackhawk in the 24 hours to 2:53 am PST (10:53 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 5 km (3 mi) WNW, at 7:18 am PDT on 31 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Blackhawk

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Blackhawk, CA, at 11:06 pm PDT on 12 July 2024 (06:06 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 9 km E of Blackhawk, CA

13 km (8 mi) SW of Brentwood, CA · 61 km (38 mi) N of San Jose, CA

11:06 pm PDT, Jul 12, 2024 · · 12 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Blackhawk Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Contra Costa County 15 kmAlameda County 23 kmSan Joaquin County 48 kmSolano County 49 kmSan Mateo County 69 kmSanta Clara County 70 kmStanislaus County 77 kmSacramento County 79 kmMarin County 86 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
11:06 pm PDT on 12 July 2024 ()
Where
9 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Blackhawk, CA · earthquakes near Blackhawk
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Contra Costa County, 15 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Greenville 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 848 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 Blackhawk, 9 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: Diablo, Brentwood, Byron, Clayton, San Ramon, Danville.

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 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× 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 13,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 3 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 42 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 6 km NNE of East Foothills, California · 45 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 13 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 4 km SE 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 37.8403, -121.8070. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Contra Costa County, CA 15 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Alameda County, CA 23 km (15 mi) SSW earthquakes near Alameda County
San Joaquin County, CA 48 km (30 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Joaquin County
Solano County, CA 49 km (30 mi) NNW earthquakes near Solano County
San Mateo County, CA 69 km (43 mi) SW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Santa Clara County, CA 70 km (43 mi) S earthquakes near Santa Clara County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 2 km NW of Alamo, CA
  2. 1.7 3 km SW of Clayton, CA
  3. 1.6 1 km ENE of Danville, CA
  4. 1.5 6 km ENE of Vallejo, CA
  5. 1.6 9 km SE of Clayton, CA
  6. 2.4 1 km NNE of Oakland, CA
  7. 3.4 8 km ENE of Alum Rock, CA
  8. 1.6 2 km NNE of San Leandro, CA
  9. 1.8 4 km SSE of Brentwood, CA
  10. 2.0 8 km ENE of Milpitas, CA
  11. 1.6 3 km SW of Clayton, CA
  12. 1.5 3 km NW of Pittsburg, CA
  13. 1.6 12 km SE of Suisun City, CA
  14. 1.5 10 km E of Blackhawk, CA
  15. 1.6 10 km SW of Brentwood, 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.