Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.9md
Earthquake near Morgan Hill, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Morgan Hill in the 24 hours to 1:29 am PST (09:29 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 20 km (13 mi) N, at 12:38 pm PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Morgan Hill
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) northeast of Morgan Hill, CA, at 9:23 pm PDT on 15 August 2025 (04:23 UTC), 9.0 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 16 km ENE of Morgan Hill, CA
28 km (17 mi) ESE of San Jose, CA · 25 km (16 mi) NNE of Gilroy, CA
- When
- 9:23 pm PDT on 15 August 2025 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) northeast of Morgan Hill, CA · earthquakes near Morgan Hill
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (md)
- Depth
- 9.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Clara County, 16 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Greenville fault, 6 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 453 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Morgan Hill, CA
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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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Morgan Hill, 16 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: San Martin, Gilroy.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 22 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 680,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 480,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 43× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 22 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 53,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 25 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 39 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 17 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 27 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 17 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 25 km W 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 37.2265, -121.5143. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County, CA | 16 km (10 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Alameda County, CA | 59 km (36 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 59 km (36 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| Merced County, CA | 70 km (44 mi) | E | earthquakes near Merced County |
| San Benito County, CA | 78 km (49 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 6 km E of Alum Rock, CA
- 3.0 16 km E of Seven Trees, CA
- 1.7 11 km E of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.8 2 km E of Aromas, CA
- 3.0 3 km WSW of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 2.0 8 km E of Alum Rock, CA
- 1.9 6 km SW of Gilroy, CA
- 1.8 3 km E of Aromas, CA
- 2.2 9 km NE of San Martin, CA
- 1.9 4 km S of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 2.5 29 km SW of Westley, CA
- 1.5 9 km ENE of Gilroy, CA
- 1.5 8 km WSW of Ridgemark, CA
- 1.5 11 km ESE of Alum Rock, CA
- 2.3 11 km ESE of Alum Rock, 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.