QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Interlaken, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Interlaken in the 24 hours to 3:43 pm PST (23:43 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 15 km (9 mi) SE, at 6:10 am PDT on 26 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 6 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Interlaken

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Interlaken, CA, at 9:02 pm PDT on 8 August 2026 (04:02 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 4 km ESE of Interlaken, CA

8 km (5 mi) E of Watsonville, CA · 42 km (26 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA

9:02 pm PDT, Aug 8, 2026 · · 12 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Interlaken Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Cruz County 30 kmSanta Clara County 32 kmSan Benito County 65 kmSan Mateo County 81 kmAlameda County 82 kmMonterey County 84 kmMerced County 90 kmStanislaus County 93 kmContra Costa County 112 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
9:02 pm PDT on 8 August 2026 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Interlaken, CA · earthquakes near Interlaken
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Cruz County, 30 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Zayante-Vergeles 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 83 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Interlaken, 4 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Pajaro, Aromas, Watsonville, Amesti, Las Lomas, Corralitos.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 110,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 34 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 20 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 20 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 48 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 42 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 42 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 36.9343, -121.6883. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Cruz County, CA 30 km (18 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Santa Clara County, CA 32 km (20 mi) N earthquakes near Santa Clara County
San Benito County, CA 65 km (40 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Benito County
San Mateo County, CA 81 km (50 mi) NW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Alameda County, CA 82 km (51 mi) NNW earthquakes near Alameda County
Monterey County, CA 84 km (52 mi) SSE earthquakes near Monterey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 1 km E of Aromas, CA
  2. 1.6 2 km SSW of Hollister, CA
  3. 2.2 8 km ENE of Gilroy, CA
  4. 2.2 7 km SW of Gilroy, CA
  5. 1.6 7 km NNE of Aromas, CA
  6. 1.6 7 km SW of Gilroy, CA
  7. 1.5 15 km E of Seven Trees, CA
  8. 1.5 10 km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
  9. 1.9 16 km S of Tres Pinos, CA
  10. 1.8 7 km WSW of Gilroy, CA
  11. 1.7 9 km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
  12. 2.2 10 km SSW of Ridgemark, CA
  13. 1.5 9 km SSE of San Juan Bautista, CA
  14. 1.8 15 km E of Seven Trees, CA
  15. 2.1 9 km ENE of Morgan Hill, 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.