QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 0.9md

Earthquake near San Jose, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in San Jose in the 24 hours to 8:44 pm PST (04:44 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 0.9 earthquake was recorded 27 km (16 mi) northeast of San Jose, CA, at 1:03 am PDT on 22 September 2026 (08:03 UTC), 6.2 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 20 km NE of Alum Rock, CA

26 km (16 mi) NNE of San Jose, CA · 20 km (12 mi) ENE of Milpitas, CA

1:03 am PDT, Sep 22, 2026 · · 6.2 km deep · released about 0.78 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alameda County 25 kmSanta Clara County 32 kmContra Costa County 51 kmSan Joaquin County 60 kmStanislaus County 61 kmSan Mateo County 61 kmSanta Cruz County 62 kmSolano County 87 kmMerced County 92 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
1:03 am PDT on 22 September 2026 ()
Where
27 km (16 mi) northeast of San Jose, CA · earthquakes near San Jose
Magnitude
M 0.9 (md)
Depth
6.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Alameda County, 25 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Calaveras fault, 13 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 46 days ago

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. 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: East Foothills, Livermore, Milpitas, Pleasanton, Fremont, Santa Clara.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 0.78 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 1.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 19,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 0.9 about 0.78 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 1,500,000 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. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 45 km S of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 25 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 22 km S of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 36 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 The 1979 Coyote Lake, California Earthquake · 48 km SSE 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 37.5107, -121.6860. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alameda County, CA 25 km (16 mi) NW earthquakes near Alameda County
Santa Clara County, CA 32 km (20 mi) S earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Contra Costa County, CA 51 km (32 mi) NNW earthquakes near Contra Costa County
San Joaquin County, CA 60 km (37 mi) NE earthquakes near San Joaquin County
Stanislaus County, CA 61 km (38 mi) E earthquakes near Stanislaus County
San Mateo County, CA 61 km (38 mi) W earthquakes near San Mateo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.0 15 km SE of Livermore, CA
  2. 1.6 10 km ENE of Blackhawk, CA
  3. 1.3 8 km ENE of Alum Rock, CA
  4. 2.4 4 km SE of San Ramon, CA
  5. 1.7 1 km SW of San Ramon, CA
  6. 2.4 2 km SSW of San Ramon, CA
  7. 1.6 1 km WSW of San Ramon, CA
  8. 1.4 2 km W of San Ramon, CA
  9. 1.1 2 km SSW of San Ramon, CA
  10. 1.8 1 km SW of San Ramon, CA
  11. 1.6 2 km WSW of Alamo, CA
  12. 1.3 10 km E of Alum Rock, CA
  13. 0.5 11 km NE of San Martin, CA
  14. 2.1 26 km WSW of Westley, CA
  15. 0.8 12 km SE of Livermore, 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.