Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Salinas, CA
USGS: 5 km N of Pinnacles, CA
99 km (62 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 45 km (28 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA
- When
- 2:55 am PDT on 2 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 46 km (29 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 3.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 7 km ENE
- 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 16 hours ago
A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA, at 2:55 am PDT on 2 October 2026 (09:55 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Soledad, Gonzales, Greenfield.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 4.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 200× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 4.8 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 72,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 18 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 14 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 46 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 36 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 18 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 36.5757, -121.1538. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 7 km (5 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 40 km (25 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 86 km (54 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus 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.
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.