Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.5mw
Earthquake near Pleasant Hill, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Pleasant Hill in the 24 hours to 11:34 pm PST (07:34 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, in Pleasant Hill, at 4:05 am PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Pleasant Hill
This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) northeast of Pleasant Hill, CA, at 8:49 am PST on 12 January 2025 (16:49 UTC), 12 km deep. 5,257 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 2 km ENE of Pleasant Hill, CA
in Concord, CA
- When
- 8:49 am PST on 12 January 2025 ()
- Where
- 2 km (1 mi) northeast of Pleasant Hill, CA · earthquakes near Pleasant Hill
- Magnitude
- M 3.5 (mw)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- 5,257 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Contra Costa County, 9 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Concord 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 353 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Pleasant Hill, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Pleasant Hill, 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 64 km (40 mi) from the epicentre. In Pleasant Hill, 2 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.
Likely felt in: Pleasant Hill 2 km, intensity III · Concord 2 km, intensity III · Pacheco 4 km, intensity III · Walnut Creek 6 km, intensity III · Martinez 10 km, intensity III · Lafayette 11 km, intensity III · Alamo 12 km, intensity III · Benicia 14 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 3.1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 55,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.5 about 3.1 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 6.5× more
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 24 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 37 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 28 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 40 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 38 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 29 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 37.9602, -122.0425. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contra Costa County, CA | 9 km (6 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Solano County, CA | 35 km (22 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Alameda County, CA | 37 km (23 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Marin County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | W | earthquakes near Marin County |
| Napa County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Napa County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 67 km (42 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
42 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 4 km W of Alamo, CA
- 2.5 4 km W of Alamo, CA
- 2.5 4 km W of Alamo, CA
- 1.7 13 km NNE of Pittsburg, CA
- 1.6 1 km S of Pacheco, CA
- 1.7 0 km NNE of East Richmond Heights, CA
- 1.5 7 km E of Vallejo, CA
- 1.8 3 km ESE of Pacheco, CA
- 1.8 6 km SW of Clayton, CA
- 1.5 4 km SE of Oakland, CA
- 1.6 3 km SW of Clayton, CA
- 2.3 2 km E of Hayward, CA
- 1.6 6 km SW of Clayton, CA
- 1.8 2 km E of Hayward, CA
- 2.2 7 km NE of Alamo, 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.