Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.8md
Earthquake near La Selva Beach, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in La Selva Beach in the 24 hours to 11:51 pm PST (07:51 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 22 km (14 mi) ESE, at 11:14 am PDT on 17 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near La Selva Beach
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) south-southwest of La Selva Beach, CA, at 10:54 am PDT on 24 September 2026 (17:54 UTC), 10 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 11 km SSW of La Selva Beach, CA
14 km (9 mi) SW of Watsonville, CA · 51 km (31 mi) S of San Jose, CA
- When
- 10:54 am PDT on 24 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) south-southwest of La Selva Beach, CA · earthquakes near La Selva Beach
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Cruz County, 21 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- East Monterey Bay fault, under 1 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 49 days ago
Earthquake alerts for La Selva Beach, CA
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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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In La Selva Beach, 11 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: Rio Del Mar, Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley, Elkhorn, Seacliff, Watsonville, Aptos.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 13 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 4.6 on 2026-04-02 — about 18,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 29 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 21 km N of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 38 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.3 22 km S of Davenport, California · 28 km W of this epicentre
- 6.3 16 km SW of Davenport, California · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 40 km NNE 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 36.8453, -121.8980. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 21 km (13 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 46 km (28 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| San Benito County, CA | 77 km (48 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Alameda County, CA | 89 km (55 mi) | N | earthquakes near Alameda County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.0 4 km NNW of Hollister, CA
- 1.1 13 km ESE of Gilroy, CA
- 0.7 13 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.5 4 km NNW of Hollister, CA
- 1.7 5 km NNW of Hollister, CA
- 2.4 6 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
- 1.7 8 km NNE of San Juan Bautista, CA
- 2.2 2 km WSW of Ridgemark, CA
- 1.0 10 km ESE of Gilroy, CA
- 1.0 9 km ESE of Gilroy, CA
- 2.5 9 km E of Gilroy, CA
- 0.9 7 km NE of Prunedale, CA
- 1.8 9 km ESE of Lexington Hills, CA
- 2.7 12 km SW of Ridgemark, CA
- 2.6 12 km SW of Ridgemark, 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.