QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.9mw

Earthquake near Dublin, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Dublin in the 24 hours to 3:18 am PST (11:18 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 5 km (3 mi) SW, at 10:32 am PST on 2 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Dublin

This page: a magnitude 3.9 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west of Dublin, CA, at 7:46 pm PDT on 17 March 2025 (02:46 UTC), 11 km deep. 3,939 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 5 km WNW of Dublin, CA

8 km (5 mi) SW of San Ramon, CA · 38 km (24 mi) ESE of San Francisco, CA

7:46 pm PDT, Mar 17, 2025 · · 11 km deep · released about 9.3 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Dublin Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alameda County 10 kmContra Costa County 24 kmSan Mateo County 47 kmSanta Clara County 60 kmSolano County 62 kmSan Joaquin County 68 kmMarin County 76 kmSanta Cruz County 77 kmStanislaus County 89 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
7:46 pm PDT on 17 March 2025 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) west of Dublin, CA · earthquakes near Dublin
Magnitude
M 3.9 (mw)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
3,939 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Nearest
Alameda County, 10 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Calaveras fault, 5 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 90 days ago

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 86 km (53 mi) from the epicentre. In Dublin, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: Dublin 5 km, intensity IV · San Ramon 8 km, intensity III · Castro Valley 8 km, intensity III · Hayward 9 km, intensity III · Pleasanton 12 km, intensity III · Union City 13 km, intensity III · Danville 13 km, intensity III · San Lorenzo 13 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 18,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 810× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 580× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.9 about 9.3 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 19× 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 7.9 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 49 km W of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 48 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 25 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 37 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 6 km NNE of East Foothills, California · 36 km SSE 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 37.7072, -121.9942. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alameda County, CA 10 km (6 mi) SE earthquakes near Alameda County
Contra Costa County, CA 24 km (15 mi) N earthquakes near Contra Costa County
San Mateo County, CA 47 km (29 mi) SW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Santa Clara County, CA 60 km (37 mi) SSE earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Solano County, CA 62 km (39 mi) N earthquakes near Solano County
San Joaquin County, CA 68 km (42 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Joaquin County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 6 km SW of Alamo, CA
  2. 2.2 6 km SW of Alamo, CA
  3. 1.5 4 km W of San Francisco Zoo, CA
  4. 2.3 3 km W of Orinda, CA
  5. 1.6 5 km SW of Alamo, CA
  6. 1.6 9 km NE of Milpitas, CA
  7. 2.1 1 km ESE of Union City, CA
  8. 1.8 2 km ESE of Union City, CA
  9. 2.8 1 km ESE of Union City, CA
  10. 1.7 5 km NNW of Orinda, CA
  11. 1.6 2 km SW of Clayton, CA
  12. 1.7 5 km E of Vallejo, CA
  13. 2.1 1 km NNW of San Pablo, CA
  14. 2.4 1 km NNW of San Pablo, CA
  15. 1.5 1 km of San Pablo, 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.