QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

25 km WNW of Boulder Creek, CA

· 13 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Mateo County 25 kmSanta Cruz County 39 kmSanta Clara County 62 kmAlameda County 66 kmSan Francisco County 82 kmContra Costa County 90 kmMarin County 101 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
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Mateo County, 25 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 761 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.7 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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.

Where

Epicentre 37.1905, -122.3927. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Mateo County, CA 25 km (16 mi) S of here earthquakes near San Mateo County
Santa Cruz County, CA 39 km (25 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Santa Clara County, CA 62 km (39 mi) W of here earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Alameda County, CA 66 km (41 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Alameda County
San Francisco County, CA 82 km (51 mi) SE of here earthquakes near San Francisco County
Contra Costa County, CA 90 km (56 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Contra Costa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 31 km SW of Portola Valley, CA
  2. 1.6 4 km SW of Loyola, CA
  3. 2.6 5 km WSW of Loyola, CA
  4. 3.0 5 km WSW of Loyola, CA
  5. 2.5 5 km SW of Loyola, CA
  6. 2.2 4 km S of Highlands-Baywood Park, CA
  7. 1.7 14 km WSW of Portola Valley, CA
  8. 1.6 11 km of Boulder Creek, CA
  9. 1.8 6 km SSE of Portola Valley, CA
  10. 1.7 6 km SW of Los Altos Hills, CA
  11. 2.0 3 km SSE of Pacifica, CA
  12. 1.7 3 km SSE of Pacifica, CA
  13. 1.7 4 km SSE of Pacifica, CA
  14. 2.3 17 km SW of Santa Cruz, CA
  15. 1.7 12 km W of Saratoga, 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.