Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near San Jose, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in San Jose in the 24 hours to 5:42 am PST (13:42 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 19 km (12 mi) E, at 12:38 pm PDT on 27 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Jose
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 28 km (17 mi) north of San Jose, CA, at 1:36 pm PST on 28 January 2026 (21:36 UTC), 8.9 km deep.
USGS: 5 km ESE of Sunol, CA
10 km (6 mi) SSE of Pleasanton, CA · 32 km (20 mi) N of San Jose, CA
- When
- 1:36 pm PST on 28 January 2026 ()
- Where
- 28 km (17 mi) north of San Jose, CA · earthquakes near San Jose
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 8.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alameda County, 9 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Calaveras fault, 3 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 276 days ago
Earthquake alerts for San Jose, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near San Jose, 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In San Jose, 28 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Pleasanton, Livermore, Fremont, Dublin, Union City, Milpitas.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.1 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 170,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 32 km S of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 34 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 43 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 29 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.7 15 km NE of East Foothills, California · 18 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 37.5847, -121.8408. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | 9 km (6 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 38 km (24 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 43 km (26 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| San Joaquin County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Joaquin County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 65 km (41 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz 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.
- 1.5 5 km ESE of San Ramon, CA
- 1.6 5 km ESE of San Ramon, CA
- 1.6 4 km ESE of San Ramon, CA
- 1.9 5 km SE of San Ramon, CA
- 1.6 4 km ESE of San Ramon, CA
- 2.3 5 km N of Dublin, CA
- 1.8 5 km N of Dublin, CA
- 1.7 5 km SE of San Ramon, CA
- 1.6 5 km SE of San Ramon, CA
- 2.5 4 km ESE of San Ramon, CA
- 2.5 4 km ESE of San Ramon, CA
- 2.2 4 km ESE of San Ramon, CA
- 1.6 4 km ESE of San Ramon, CA
- 2.2 4 km SE of San Ramon, CA
- 1.9 28 km WSW of Westley, 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.