Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Soledad, CA
USGS: 11 km E of Pinnacles, CA
57 km (36 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA · 110 km (69 mi) SE of San Jose, CA
- When
- 4:16 pm PDT on 2 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 29 km (18 mi) ENE of Soledad, CA · earthquakes near Soledad
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 25 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 11 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 7 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 hours ago
A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) ENE of Soledad, CA, at 4:16 pm PDT on 2 October 2026 (23:16 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 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 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 65,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 Northwest of Huron, California · 38 km E of this epicentre
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 28 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 25 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 29 km NE of San Lucas, California · 34 km SE of this epicentre
- 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 36.5305, -121.0250. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 11 km (7 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 41 km (26 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 97 km (60 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 115 km (71 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
No further 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.