QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4mw

Earthquake near Salinas, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Salinas in the 24 hours to 12:01 am PST (08:01 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 18 km (11 mi) ENE, at 5:38 am PDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Salinas

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 32 km (20 mi) east of Salinas, CA, at 6:24 pm PST on 15 January 2026 (02:24 UTC), 6.0 km deep. 13 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 14 km S of Tres Pinos, CA

83 km (52 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA · 30 km (18 mi) E of Salinas, CA

6:24 pm PST, Jan 15, 2026 · · 6.0 km deep · released about 2.1 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Salinas Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 20 kmMonterey County 47 kmSanta Clara County 71 kmSanta Cruz County 74 kmMerced County 78 kmStanislaus County 103 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
6:24 pm PST on 15 January 2026 ()
Where
32 km (20 mi) east of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
Magnitude
M 3.4 (mw)
Depth
6.0 km below the surface
Felt
13 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
San Benito County, 20 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 4 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 208 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 59 km (37 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 32 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: Hollister 22 km, intensity III · Soledad 27 km, intensity II · Salinas 32 km, intensity II · Prunedale 35 km, intensity II · Greenfield 39 km, intensity II · Gilroy 45 km, intensity II · Watsonville 49 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 80,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,600× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 2.1 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4.4× 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 4.7 on 2019-10-15 — about 83 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 10 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 Near Watsonville, California · 47 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 5 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 20 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 2 km N 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 36.6668, -121.3023. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 20 km (13 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 47 km (29 mi) S earthquakes near Monterey County
Santa Clara County, CA 71 km (44 mi) NNW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 74 km (46 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Merced County, CA 78 km (49 mi) NE earthquakes near Merced County
Stanislaus County, CA 103 km (64 mi) NNE earthquakes near Stanislaus County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 3 km SE of Aromas, CA
  2. 2.7 3 km SE of Aromas, CA
  3. 2.8 14 km S of Tres Pinos, CA
  4. 1.6 14 km S of Tres Pinos, CA
  5. 1.6 32 km SSW of South Dos Palos, CA
  6. 2.7 16 km S of Tres Pinos, CA
  7. 2.0 2 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 1.5 15 km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  9. 2.0 4 km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 1.8 7 km ESE of Prunedale, CA
  11. 2.3 8 km SE of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 2.0 6 km SW of Ridgemark, CA
  13. 2.5 5 km SW of Ridgemark, CA
  14. 3.1 5 km SW of Ridgemark, CA
  15. 2.5 5 km SW of Ridgemark, 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.