Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 2.2md
Earthquake near Benicia, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Benicia in the 24 hours to 12:15 am PST (08:15 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 10 km (6 mi) N, at 11:09 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Benicia
This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded in Benicia, CA, at 9:56 pm PDT on 25 September 2026 (04:56 UTC), 7.7 km deep. 65 people have reported feeling it to USGS. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 1 km E of Port Costa, CA
10 km (6 mi) SE of Vallejo, CA · 37 km (23 mi) NE of San Francisco, CA
- When
- 9:56 pm PDT on 25 September 2026 ()
- Where
- in Benicia, CA · earthquakes near Benicia
- Magnitude
- M 2.2 (md)
- Depth
- 7.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- 65 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Contra Costa County, 24 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Concord fault, 10 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 47 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Benicia, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Benicia, CA. No account or email needed.
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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. 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.
Likely felt in: Benicia in town, intensity II · Crockett 4 km, intensity II · Martinez 4 km, intensity II · Vallejo 10 km, intensity II · Hercules 11 km, intensity II · Pacheco 11 km, intensity II · Pinole 12 km, intensity II · Concord 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 60 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 250,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 180,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 16× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.2 about 60 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 2,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 47 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · 22 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1980 Livermore, California Earthquake · 42 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.4 South of Elmira, California · 37 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.1 11 km E of Blackhawk, California · 44 km SE 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 38.0453, -122.1723. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contra Costa County, CA | 24 km (15 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
| Solano County, CA | 32 km (20 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Solano County |
| Alameda County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| Marin County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | W | earthquakes near Marin County |
| Napa County, CA | 53 km (33 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Napa County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.1 5 km WNW of San Francisco Zoo, CA
- 2.5 2 km WNW of Concord, CA
- 1.6 3 km E of Berkeley, CA
- 2.6 3 km ESE of Berkeley, CA
- 2.1 3 km W of Concord, CA
- 1.3 2 km SSE of Diablo, CA
- 1.3 1 km NE of Diablo, CA
- 2.1 0 km WSW of Diablo, CA
- 1.6 0 km WNW of Diablo, CA
- 1.4 0 km NE of Diablo, CA
- 1.6 0 km NW of Diablo, CA
- 1.1 2 km SSW of Alamo, CA
- 2.0 7 km ENE of Vallejo, CA
- 1.0 6 km E of Oakland, CA
- 1.3 5 km SSW of Pittsburg, 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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| felt reports | 59 | 65 |
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.