Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Soledad, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Soledad in the 24 hours to 11:45 pm PST (07:45 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) N, at 2:58 pm PDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Soledad
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) south-southwest of Soledad, CA, at 11:58 am PDT on 23 May 2025 (18:58 UTC), 13 km deep.
USGS: 4 km NNE of Lopez Point, CA
- When
- 11:58 am PDT on 23 May 2025 ()
- Where
- 46 km (29 mi) south-southwest of Soledad, CA · earthquakes near Soledad
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Monterey County, 30 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Gregorio fault, 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 531 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Soledad, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Soledad, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 1 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Soledad, 46 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 2021-10-25 — about 22,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.2 28km NW of Cambria, CA · 43 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.2 25 km NW of San Simeon, California · 31 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.2 22 km NW of San Simeon, California · 34 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.1 3 km W of Soledad, California · 45 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.1 14 km NW of Big Sur, California · 47 km NW 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 36.0560, -121.5610. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | 30 km (19 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 114 km (71 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 125 km (78 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
25 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.7 13 km NNW of San Simeon, CA
- 1.9 23 km S of Lopez Point, CA
- 2.6 21 km NNE of San Simeon, CA
- 1.9 27 km S of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.8 10 km SE of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.6 27 km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
- 3.2 15 km NNW of San Simeon, CA
- 2.8 24 km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
- 2.3 20 km NNW of San Simeon, CA
- 2.5 17 km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.6 25 km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.8 17 km WNW of San Simeon, CA
- 1.8 24 km NNW of San Simeon, CA
- 3.6 22 km NNW of San Simeon, CA
- 2.1 24 km NNW of San Simeon, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.