Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.6md
Earthquake near Fairfield, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Fairfield in the 24 hours to 9:32 pm PST (05:32 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 18 km (11 mi) W, at 10:47 am PDT on 6 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Fairfield
This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) southeast of Fairfield, CA, at 4:58 pm PDT on 28 July 2024 (23:58 UTC), 23 km deep. 5 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 11 km SSE of Suisun City, CA
13 km (8 mi) SSE of Fairfield, CA · 58 km (36 mi) NE of San Francisco, CA
- When
- 4:58 pm PDT on 28 July 2024 ()
- Where
- 12 km (8 mi) southeast of Fairfield, CA · earthquakes near Fairfield
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (md)
- Depth
- 23 km below the surface
- Felt
- 5 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Solano County, 12 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 14 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 764 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Fairfield, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Fairfield, CA. No account or email needed.
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 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Fairfield, 12 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: Suisun, Bay Point, Pittsburg, Vine Hill, Green Valley, Concord.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 220 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 68,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 48,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.3× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 220 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 660 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 31 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 39 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 17 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 42 km SSE 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 38.1588, -121.9595. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solano County, CA | 12 km (8 mi) | N | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | S | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Napa County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Napa County |
| Alameda County, CA | 57 km (35 mi) | S | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Yolo County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | N | earthquakes near Yolo County |
| Sacramento County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Sacramento County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 3 km SE of Berkeley, CA
- 1.6 2 km E of San Ramon, CA
- 1.5 2 km WSW of Concord, CA
- 1.9 5 km SW of Clayton, CA
- 1.8 2 km ENE of Oakland, CA
- 1.9 5 km WSW of Yountville, CA
- 1.5 2 km SW of Blackhawk, CA
- 1.9 1 km WNW of Kensington, CA
- 2.5 1 km ESE of Pacheco, CA
- 1.9 2 km NW of Alamo, CA
- 1.6 4 km SW of Clayton, CA
- 1.9 2 km NW of Alamo, CA
- 1.6 2 km NW of Alamo, CA
- 1.7 3 km SW of Clayton, CA
- 1.6 1 km ENE of Danville, 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.