Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Soledad, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Soledad in the 24 hours to 3:30 am PST (11:30 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) N, at 2:58 pm PDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Soledad
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) southwest of Soledad, CA, at 2:06 pm PDT on 16 March 2026 (21:06 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 11 km NNW of Lopez Point, CA
- When
- 2:06 pm PDT on 16 March 2026 ()
- Where
- 43 km (27 mi) southwest of Soledad, CA · earthquakes near Soledad
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Monterey County, 30 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Gregorio fault, 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 230 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Soledad, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Soledad, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Soledad, 43 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.8 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 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 4.7 on 2021-10-25 — about 36,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 25 km NW of San Simeon, California · 39 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.2 22 km NW of San Simeon, California · 42 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.1 8 km E of Carmel Valley Village, California · 43 km N of this epicentre
- 5.1 3 km W of Soledad, California · 41 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.1 14 km NW of Big Sur, California · 39 km NW 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 36.1123, -121.6125. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | 30 km (19 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| San Benito County, CA | 73 km (45 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 132 km (82 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
26 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 27 km NW of San Simeon, CA
- 1.7 8 km ENE of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.7 8 km ENE of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.6 20 km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.6 20 km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.8 20 km S of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.5 20 km SSE of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.9 29 km WNW of San Simeon, CA
- 1.6 16 km N of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.5 18 km NNW of San Simeon, CA
- 2.2 4 km E of Lopez Point, CA
- 1.7 3 km E of Lopez Point, CA
- 2.1 13 km S of Carmel By The Sea, CA
- 2.1 14 km S of Carmel By The Sea, CA
- 1.9 27 km NW of San Simeon, 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.