QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Pacheco, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Pacheco in the 24 hours to 8:55 am PST (16:55 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 5 km (3 mi) S, at 4:05 am PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Pacheco

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in Pacheco, CA, at 1:28 pm PDT on 9 March 2025 (20:28 UTC), 15 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 1 km S of Pacheco, CA

6 km (4 mi) W of Concord, CA · 37 km (23 mi) NE of San Francisco, CA

1:28 pm PDT, Mar 9, 2025 · · 15 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Pacheco Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Contra Costa County 12 kmSolano County 35 kmAlameda County 39 kmMarin County 60 kmNapa County 64 kmSan Mateo County 67 kmSan Joaquin County 70 kmYolo County 80 kmSacramento County 83 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
1:28 pm PDT on 9 March 2025 ()
Where
in Pacheco, CA · earthquakes near Pacheco
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
1 report
Nearest
Contra Costa County, 12 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Concord 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 606 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: Pleasant Hill, Concord, Vine Hill, Contra Costa Centre, Waldon, Walnut Creek.

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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.5 on 2019-10-15 — about 17,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 34 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 30 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 39 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 41 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 37.9723, -122.0707. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Contra Costa County, CA 12 km (7 mi) ESE earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Solano County, CA 35 km (22 mi) NNE earthquakes near Solano County
Alameda County, CA 39 km (24 mi) SSE earthquakes near Alameda County
Marin County, CA 60 km (37 mi) W earthquakes near Marin County
Napa County, CA 64 km (39 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

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

  1. 1.6 2 km SW of Clayton, CA
  2. 1.7 5 km E of Vallejo, CA
  3. 2.1 1 km NNW of San Pablo, CA
  4. 2.4 1 km NNW of San Pablo, CA
  5. 1.5 1 km of San Pablo, CA
  6. 1.6 8 km NNE of Livermore, CA
  7. 1.8 9 km NNE of Livermore, CA
  8. 1.5 9 km NNE of Livermore, CA
  9. 1.8 9 km NNE of Livermore, CA
  10. 1.5 6 km SSE of Napa, CA
  11. 1.9 1 km SSE of Walnut Creek, CA
  12. 1.5 8 km NNE of Benicia, CA
  13. 1.7 5 km W of Dublin, CA
  14. 1.9 8 km SW of Mountain House, CA
  15. 1.7 12 km W of Rio Vista, 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.