QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Castro Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Castro Valley in the 24 hours to 9:18 pm PST (05:18 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 10 km (6 mi) ESE, at 10:32 am PST on 2 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Castro Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in Castro Valley, CA, at 5:42 pm PDT on 24 July 2024 (00:42 UTC), 9.8 km deep.

USGS: 0 km NW of Castro Valley, CA

14 km (9 mi) SE of Oakland, CA · 6 km (4 mi) E of San Leandro, CA

5:42 pm PDT, Jul 24, 2024 · · 9.8 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Castro Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alameda County 17 kmContra Costa County 28 kmSan Mateo County 40 kmSanta Clara County 64 kmSolano County 65 kmMarin County 70 kmSanta Cruz County 76 kmSan Joaquin County 77 kmSan Francisco 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
5:42 pm PDT on 24 July 2024 ()
Where
in Castro Valley, CA · earthquakes near Castro Valley
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
9.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Alameda County, 17 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Hayward fault, 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 553 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Castro Valley in town, intensity II · Hayward 3 km, intensity II · San Lorenzo 4 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 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 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 20,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 41 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 33 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 43 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 6 km NNE of East Foothills, California · 40 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 34 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 37.6962, -122.0908. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alameda County, CA 17 km (10 mi) ESE earthquakes near Alameda County
Contra Costa County, CA 28 km (17 mi) NNE earthquakes near Contra Costa County
San Mateo County, CA 40 km (25 mi) SW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Santa Clara County, CA 64 km (39 mi) SE earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Solano County, CA 65 km (40 mi) NNE earthquakes near Solano County
Marin County, CA 70 km (43 mi) NW earthquakes near Marin 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 4 km SW of Clayton, CA
  2. 1.9 2 km NW of Alamo, CA
  3. 1.8 3 km N of Hayward, CA
  4. 1.6 2 km NW of Alamo, CA
  5. 1.7 3 km SW of Clayton, CA
  6. 1.6 1 km ENE of Danville, CA
  7. 1.6 5 km E of El Granada, CA
  8. 1.6 7 km ESE of Santa Venetia, CA
  9. 1.5 6 km ENE of Vallejo, CA
  10. 1.6 9 km SE of Clayton, CA
  11. 1.7 5 km ENE of El Granada, CA
  12. 2.4 1 km NNE of Oakland, CA
  13. 1.6 9 km E of Alum Rock, CA
  14. 3.4 8 km ENE of Alum Rock, CA
  15. 1.5 5 km E of El Granada, 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.