Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.2md
Earthquake near San Jose, CA
USGS: 15 km E of Seven Trees, CA
13 km (8 mi) E of San Jose, CA
- When
- 11:55 pm PDT on 28 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 20 km (13 mi) ESE of San Jose, CA · earthquakes near San Jose
- Magnitude
- M 1.2 (md)
- Depth
- 3.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Clara County, 8 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Calaveras 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 4 days ago
A magnitude 1.2 earthquake was recorded 20 km (13 mi) ESE of San Jose, CA, at 11:55 pm PDT on 28 September 2026 (06:55 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: East Foothills, Morgan Hill, San Martin, Campbell, Milpitas, Santa Clara.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 580× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.2 about 1.7 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 5.1 on 2022-10-25 — about 710,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 34 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 21 km S of this epicentre
- 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 11 km W of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 2 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 15 km SW 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 37.2950, -121.6722. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County, CA | 8 km (5 mi) | S | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 43 km (27 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Alameda County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alameda County |
| San Mateo County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Mateo County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
| Contra Costa County, CA | 74 km (46 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Contra Costa County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
7 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.0 4 km WSW of Cupertino, CA
- 1.1 5 km WSW of Cupertino, CA
- 1.1 1 km NE of Aromas, CA
- 1.3 11 km SW of Loyola, CA
- 2.1 26 km WSW of Westley, CA
- 1.1 11 km N of Hollister, CA
- 1.0 9 km E of Gilroy, 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
- 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.