QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

5 km S of Portola Valley, CA

· 7.9 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Mateo County 15 kmSanta Cruz County 41 kmAlameda County 44 kmSanta Clara County 49 kmContra Costa County 69 kmSan Francisco County 83 kmMarin County 92 kmSolano County 106 kmSan Joaquin County 107 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
7.9 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
San Mateo County, 15 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 580 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.8 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 2,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 37.3375, -122.2258. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Mateo County, CA 15 km (10 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near San Mateo County
Santa Cruz County, CA 41 km (25 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Alameda County, CA 44 km (27 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Alameda County
Santa Clara County, CA 49 km (31 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Contra Costa County, CA 69 km (43 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Contra Costa County
San Francisco County, CA 83 km (52 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near San Francisco County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 5 km ENE of Fairview, CA
  2. 1.9 5 km WNW of Dublin, CA
  3. 1.6 11 km of Boulder Creek, CA
  4. 1.8 6 km SSE of Portola Valley, CA
  5. 1.7 6 km SW of Los Altos Hills, CA
  6. 1.5 1 km E of Union City, CA
  7. 1.7 8 km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  8. 2.0 3 km SSE of Pacifica, CA
  9. 1.7 3 km SSE of Pacifica, CA
  10. 1.9 15 km E of Seven Trees, CA
  11. 1.6 9 km NE of Milpitas, CA
  12. 2.1 1 km ESE of Union City, CA
  13. 1.8 2 km ESE of Union City, CA
  14. 2.8 1 km ESE of Union City, CA
  15. 1.7 4 km SSE of Pacifica, 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.