QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near Salinas, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 10:16 pm PST (06:16 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 18 km (11 mi) ENE, at 5:38 am PDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Salinas

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 36 km (22 mi) east of Salinas, CA, at 12:35 am PST on 20 January 2025 (08:35 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 14 km NW of Pinnacles, CA

90 km (56 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA · 34 km (21 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA

12:35 am PST, Jan 20, 2025 · · 10 km deep · released about 5.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salinas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 16 kmMonterey County 42 kmSanta Clara County 77 kmSanta Cruz County 80 kmMerced County 80 kmStanislaus County 108 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
12:35 am PST on 20 January 2025 ()
Where
36 km (22 mi) east of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 16 km E
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 3 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 652 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 2 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 36 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: Gonzales, Soledad, Chualar, Ridgemark, Hollister.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.6 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 2,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — about 63,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 13 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 6 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 26 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 8 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 3 km ENE of Tres Pinos, California · 21 km N 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 36.6175, -121.2608. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 16 km (10 mi) E earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 42 km (26 mi) S earthquakes near Monterey County
Santa Clara County, CA 77 km (48 mi) NNW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 80 km (50 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Merced County, CA 80 km (50 mi) NE earthquakes near Merced County
Stanislaus County, CA 108 km (67 mi) NNE earthquakes near Stanislaus 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. 1.7 10 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  2. 1.6 5 km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  3. 2.8 11 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  4. 2.4 10 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  5. 2.2 10 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  6. 3.0 11 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  7. 2.7 11 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  8. 1.7 5 km WNW of San Juan Bautista, CA
  9. 2.5 5 km SSE of Aromas, CA
  10. 2.6 11 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  11. 1.7 12 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  12. 2.6 10 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  13. 3.9 11 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  14. 3.0 11 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  15. 2.7 12 km SSW of Tres Pinos, 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.