QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Saratoga, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Saratoga in the 24 hours to 1:02 am PST (09:02 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 7 km (4 mi) NW, at 9:23 am PST on 10 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 4 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Saratoga

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) west-southwest of Saratoga, CA, at 7:16 pm PDT on 17 March 2025 (02:16 UTC), 6.8 km deep. 5 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4 km WSW of Saratoga, CA

22 km (14 mi) WSW of San Jose, CA · 8 km (5 mi) S of Cupertino, CA

7:16 pm PDT, Mar 17, 2025 · · 6.8 km deep · released about 25 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Saratoga Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Cruz County 27 kmSanta Clara County 33 kmSan Mateo County 33 kmAlameda County 46 kmContra Costa County 75 kmStanislaus County 100 kmSan Francisco County 101 kmSan Joaquin County 103 kmMarin 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
7:16 pm PDT on 17 March 2025 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) west-southwest of Saratoga, CA · earthquakes near Saratoga
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
6.8 km below the surface
Felt
5 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Santa Cruz County, 27 km S
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, under 1 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 225 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Saratoga, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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: Saratoga 4 km, intensity II · Los Gatos 8 km, intensity II · Cupertino 9 km, intensity II · Campbell 11 km, intensity II · Sunnyvale 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 25 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 420,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 38× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 5.1 on 2022-10-25 — about 46,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 29 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 41 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 16 km SW of Davenport, California · 44 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 24 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 34 km ENE 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 37.2492, -122.0605. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Cruz County, CA 27 km (17 mi) S earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Santa Clara County, CA 33 km (20 mi) E earthquakes near Santa Clara County
San Mateo County, CA 33 km (21 mi) NW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Alameda County, CA 46 km (29 mi) NNE earthquakes near Alameda County
Contra Costa County, CA 75 km (47 mi) N earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Stanislaus County, CA 100 km (62 mi) ENE earthquakes near Stanislaus County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 5 km SW of Loyola, CA
  2. 1.6 9 km ENE of San Martin, CA
  3. 2.2 4 km S of Highlands-Baywood Park, CA
  4. 1.9 3 km ESE of Hayward, CA
  5. 2.6 16 km NNE of Morgan Hill, CA
  6. 1.7 14 km WSW of Portola Valley, CA
  7. 1.7 14 km NNE of Morgan Hill, CA
  8. 2.4 14 km NNE of Morgan Hill, CA
  9. 2.5 9 km ENE of Morgan Hill, CA
  10. 1.6 11 km of Boulder Creek, CA
  11. 2.4 8 km NNE of Interlaken, CA
  12. 1.8 6 km SSE of Portola Valley, CA
  13. 1.7 6 km SW of Los Altos Hills, CA
  14. 1.5 1 km E of Union City, CA
  15. 1.8 7 km WSW of Gilroy, 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.