QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near Morgan Hill, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Morgan Hill in the 24 hours to 6:51 pm PST (02:51 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 20 km (13 mi) N, at 12:38 pm PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Morgan Hill

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 25 km (15 mi) northeast of Morgan Hill, CA, at 9:14 pm PDT on 18 July 2024 (04:14 UTC), 8.2 km deep.

USGS: 25 km NE of Morgan Hill, CA

30 km (18 mi) E of San Jose, CA

9:14 pm PDT, Jul 18, 2024 · · 8.2 km deep · released about 5.9 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Morgan Hill Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Clara County 21 kmStanislaus County 51 kmAlameda County 54 kmSanta Cruz County 57 kmMerced County 68 kmSan Joaquin County 72 kmSan Mateo County 80 kmContra Costa County 80 kmSan Benito County 85 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
9:14 pm PDT on 18 July 2024 ()
Where
25 km (15 mi) northeast of Morgan Hill, CA · earthquakes near Morgan Hill
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
8.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Clara County, 21 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Greenville fault, 2 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 841 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Morgan Hill, 25 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 Martin.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 200,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 46 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 26 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 28 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 17 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 31 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 37.3075, -121.4813. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Clara County, CA 21 km (13 mi) WSW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Stanislaus County, CA 51 km (32 mi) NE earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Alameda County, CA 54 km (33 mi) NW earthquakes near Alameda County
Santa Cruz County, CA 57 km (35 mi) SW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Merced County, CA 68 km (42 mi) E earthquakes near Merced County
San Joaquin County, CA 72 km (45 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Joaquin 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 8 km ENE of Milpitas, CA
  2. 1.9 9 km ENE of Milpitas, CA
  3. 1.7 6 km SW of Gilroy, CA
  4. 2.2 2 km E of Aromas, CA
  5. 2.7 8 km E of Alum Rock, CA
  6. 2.1 3 km NNE of Corralitos, CA
  7. 1.7 2 km E of Aromas, CA
  8. 1.9 13 km NNE of Morgan Hill, CA
  9. 1.9 9 km SW of Morgan Hill, CA
  10. 1.7 2 km E of Aromas, CA
  11. 2.2 25 km WSW of Patterson, CA
  12. 2.1 16 km ESE of Seven Trees, CA
  13. 1.5 2 km E of Aromas, CA
  14. 2.1 7 km SSE of Seven Trees, CA
  15. 1.6 22 km SW of Gustine, 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.