QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.3md

Earthquake near Greenfield, CA

USGS: 22 km SE of Pinnacles, CA

3:15 am PDT, Sep 30, 2026 · · 6.4 km deep · released about 2.3 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 26 kmMonterey County 35 kmMerced County 92 kmKings County 110 kmSanta Clara County 112 kmSanta Cruz County 115 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
3:15 am PDT on 30 September 2026 ()
Where
26 km (16 mi) ENE of Greenfield, CA · earthquakes near Greenfield
Magnitude
M 1.3 (md)
Depth
6.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 26 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 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 3 days ago

A magnitude 1.3 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) ENE of Greenfield, CA, at 3:15 am PDT on 30 September 2026 (10:15 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: King City.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 6,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 420× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.3 about 2.3 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 150,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 35 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 44 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 39 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 21 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 43 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 36.3953, -120.9712. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 26 km (16 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 35 km (22 mi) WSW earthquakes near Monterey County
Merced County, CA 92 km (57 mi) NNE earthquakes near Merced County
Kings County, CA 110 km (68 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kings County
Santa Clara County, CA 112 km (70 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 115 km (72 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 11 km E of Pinnacles, CA
  2. 1.9 5 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 2.3 10 km SSE of Pinnacles, CA
  4. 1.5 5 km N of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 2.5 10 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  6. 2.4 7 km SE 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.