QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near San Francisco, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in San Francisco in the 24 hours to 12:51 am PST (08:51 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 18 km (11 mi) ENE, at 6:23 pm PST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 114 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Francisco

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 14 km (8 mi) southwest of San Francisco, CA, at 9:24 pm PDT on 26 July 2025 (04:24 UTC), 7.6 km deep.

USGS: 5 km WSW of San Francisco Zoo, CA

14 km (9 mi) SW of San Francisco, CA · 7 km (5 mi) W of Daly City, CA

9:24 pm PDT, Jul 26, 2025 · · 7.6 km deep · released about 6.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Mateo County 36 kmMarin County 42 kmSan Francisco County 43 kmAlameda County 56 kmContra Costa County 58 kmSolano County 82 kmSanta Cruz County 91 kmNapa County 91 kmSanta Clara County 93 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
9:24 pm PDT on 26 July 2025 ()
Where
14 km (8 mi) southwest of San Francisco, CA · earthquakes near San Francisco
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
7.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Mateo County, 36 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 2 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 465 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In San Francisco, 14 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: Daly City 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.6 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 2,300,000× 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 6.6 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 4.4 on 2018-01-04 — about 17,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 5 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 The 1957 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 7 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 37.7058, -122.5480. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Mateo County, CA 36 km (22 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Mateo County
Marin County, CA 42 km (26 mi) NNW earthquakes near Marin County
San Francisco County, CA 43 km (27 mi) W earthquakes near San Francisco County
Alameda County, CA 56 km (35 mi) E earthquakes near Alameda County
Contra Costa County, CA 58 km (36 mi) ENE earthquakes near Contra Costa County
Solano County, CA 82 km (51 mi) NE earthquakes near Solano County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 2 km ENE of Berkeley, CA
  2. 1.9 2 km E of Berkeley, CA
  3. 2.0 2 km E of Berkeley, CA
  4. 1.7 2 km E of Berkeley, CA
  5. 2.3 2 km E of Berkeley, CA
  6. 3.0 2 km E of Berkeley, CA
  7. 1.9 1 km NE of San Leandro, CA
  8. 1.7 3 km SE of Pacifica, CA
  9. 2.2 3 km ESE of Berkeley, CA
  10. 1.9 2 km E of Berkeley, CA
  11. 2.5 3 km ESE of Berkeley, CA
  12. 1.8 3 km SE of Pacifica, CA
  13. 2.2 3 km SE of Pacifica, CA
  14. 1.6 3 km SE of Pacifica, CA
  15. 1.8 3 km SE 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.