Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 2.3md
Earthquake near Soledad, CA
USGS: 10 km SSE of Pinnacles, CA
56 km (35 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA · 114 km (71 mi) SE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 2:58 am PDT on 2 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 22 km (14 mi) E of Soledad, CA · earthquakes near Soledad
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (md)
- Depth
- 0.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 17 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 2 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 2.3 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) E of Soledad, CA, at 2:58 am PDT on 2 October 2026 (09:58 UTC). 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Greenfield, King City.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 94 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 160,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 94 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 3,700 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 43 km E of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 33 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 28 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 33 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 32 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 36.4568, -121.0828. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 17 km (11 mi) | N | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 32 km (20 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 88 km (55 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Kings County, CA | 121 km (75 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kings County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
2 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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| reported intensity | not reported | 0 | |
| felt reports | not reported | 2 |
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.