Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.3mw
Earthquake near Berkeley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Berkeley in the 24 hours to 7:49 am PST (15:49 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 2 km (2 mi) E, at 6:31 pm PST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Berkeley
This page: a magnitude 4.3 earthquake was recorded in Berkeley, CA, at 2:56 am PDT on 22 September 2025 (09:56 UTC), 7.6 km deep. 31,810 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 2 km ESE of Berkeley, CA
17 km (11 mi) ENE of San Francisco, CA · in Berkeley, CA
- When
- 2:56 am PDT on 22 September 2025 ()
- Where
- in Berkeley, CA · earthquakes near Berkeley
- Magnitude
- M 4.3 (mw)
- Depth
- 7.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- 31,810 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- Contra Costa County, 27 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Hayward 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 51 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Berkeley, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Berkeley, 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 light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 120 km (75 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Berkeley in town, intensity IV · Oakland 7 km, intensity IV · Orinda 7 km, intensity IV · El Cerrito 8 km, intensity IV · Alameda 10 km, intensity IV · Richmond 12 km, intensity IV · Lafayette 12 km, intensity IV · San Pablo 14 km, intensity IV. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 41 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 4,100× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.3 about 41 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 86× 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 1.8 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 29 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 39 km N of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 43 km E of this epicentre
- 5.4 9 km NE of Livermore, California · 50 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.3 The 1957 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 30 km SW 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 37.8630, -122.2540. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contra Costa County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Alameda County, CA | 38 km (24 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Marin County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Marin County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 51 km (32 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Solano County, CA | 53 km (33 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Solano County |
| San Francisco County, CA | 70 km (44 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Francisco County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 1 km E of Woodside, CA
- 1.6 1 km ESE of Woodside, CA
- 2.6 1 km ESE of Woodside, CA
- 2.2 1 km E of Woodside, CA
- 2.0 1 km ENE of Woodside, CA
- 2.5 1 km E of Woodside, CA
- 2.5 7 km NNW of Lafayette, CA
- 2.8 8 km NNW of Lafayette, CA
- 2.2 1 km E of Woodside, CA
- 2.0 1 km E of Woodside, CA
- 2.3 7 km NNW of Lafayette, CA
- 2.1 8 km ENE of Vallejo, CA
- 2.2 2 km E of Berkeley, CA
- 1.6 6 km ESE of Santa Venetia, CA
- 1.6 8 km NW of San Francisco Zoo, 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.