QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 2.4md

Earthquake near Soledad, CA

USGS: 7 km SE of Pinnacles, CA

54 km (33 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA · 111 km (69 mi) SE of San Jose, CA

1:36 am PDT, Oct 1, 2026 · · 5.1 km deep · released about 110 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Benito County 14 kmMonterey County 34 kmMerced County 85 kmSanta Clara County 98 kmSanta Cruz County 101 kmStanislaus County 120 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
1:36 am PDT on 1 October 2026 ()
Where
22 km (14 mi) ENE of Soledad, CA · earthquakes near Soledad
Magnitude
M 2.4 (md)
Depth
5.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Benito County, 14 km N
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas 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 2 days ago

A magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) ENE of Soledad, CA, at 1:36 am PDT on 1 October 2026 (08:36 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Greenfield.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 110 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 95,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 110 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 3,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 44 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 30 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 25 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 35 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 48 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 36.4853, -121.0872. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Benito County, CA 14 km (9 mi) N earthquakes near San Benito County
Monterey County, CA 34 km (21 mi) SW earthquakes near Monterey County
Merced County, CA 85 km (53 mi) NNE earthquakes near Merced County
Santa Clara County, CA 98 km (61 mi) NNW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County, CA 101 km (63 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Stanislaus County, CA 120 km (75 mi) N earthquakes near Stanislaus 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. 1.4 11 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  6. 2.5 10 km NW 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.