QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Soledad, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Soledad in the 24 hours to 5:35 am PST (13:35 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 30 km (19 mi) northeast of Soledad, CA, at 6:24 pm PDT on 3 August 2026 (01:24 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 10 km NE of Pinnacles, CA

51 km (32 mi) E of Salinas, CA · 101 km (63 mi) SE of San Jose, CA

6:24 pm PDT, Aug 3, 2026 · · 11 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Soledad Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 2 kmMonterey County 46 kmMerced County 73 kmSanta Clara County 88 kmSanta Cruz County 95 kmStanislaus County 107 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 PDT on 3 August 2026 ()
Where
30 km (19 mi) northeast of Soledad, CA · earthquakes near Soledad
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 2 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 8 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 90 days ago

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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Soledad, 30 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 2019-10-15 — about 21,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 44 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 20 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 17 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 43 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 40 km WNW 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 36.6013, -121.0738. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 2 km (1 mi) NW earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 46 km (28 mi) SSW earthquakes near Monterey County
Merced County, CA 73 km (45 mi) NNE earthquakes near Merced County
Santa Clara County, CA 88 km (55 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 95 km (59 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Stanislaus County, CA 107 km (67 mi) N earthquakes near Stanislaus County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 6 km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  2. 1.9 6 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 1.9 4 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 1.5 6 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 1.6 7 km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  6. 1.8 6 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  7. 1.8 7 km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  8. 2.0 6 km NNW of Pinnacles, CA
  9. 1.8 6 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  10. 1.9 5 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  11. 1.9 5 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  12. 2.0 6 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  13. 1.8 6 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  14. 1.7 6 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  15. 2.7 5 km NW of Pinnacles, 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.