Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.2md
Earthquake near Pacifica, CA
USGS: 2 km NE of Pacifica, CA
18 km (11 mi) SSW of San Francisco, CA · 8 km (5 mi) S of Daly City, CA
- When
- 4:00 am PDT on 30 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 2 km (1 mi) NE of Pacifica, CA · earthquakes near Pacifica
- Magnitude
- M 1.2 (md)
- Depth
- 6.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Mateo County, 25 km SSE
- 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 1.2 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) NE of Pacifica, CA, at 4:00 am PDT on 30 September 2026 (11:00 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: San Bruno, Colma, South San Francisco, Broadmoor, Millbrae, Brisbane.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 580× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.2 about 1.7 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 4.5 on 2019-10-15 — about 89,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 16 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.3 The 1957 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 5 km NNW 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 37.6257, -122.4662. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Mateo County, CA | 25 km (15 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Alameda County, CA | 49 km (30 mi) | E | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| San Francisco County, CA | 51 km (32 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Francisco County |
| Marin County, CA | 53 km (33 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Marin County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 56 km (35 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
3 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 1 km NNW of East Richmond Heights, CA
- 1.0 4 km WSW of Cupertino, CA
- 1.1 5 km WSW of Cupertino, 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.