QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.1md

Earthquake near Hollister, CA

USGS: 11 km N of Hollister, CA

52 km (33 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 16 km (10 mi) ESE of Gilroy, CA

5:01 am PDT, Sep 29, 2026 · · 8.7 km deep · released about 1.3 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Clara County 39 kmSan Benito County 48 kmSanta Cruz County 53 kmMerced County 68 kmStanislaus County 78 kmMonterey County 79 kmAlameda County 89 kmSan Mateo County 99 kmSan Joaquin County 111 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
5:01 am PDT on 29 September 2026 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) N of Hollister, CA · earthquakes near Hollister
Magnitude
M 1.1 (md)
Depth
8.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Clara County, 39 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Calaveras 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 4 days ago

A magnitude 1.1 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) N of Hollister, CA, at 5:01 am PDT on 29 September 2026 (12:01 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Gilroy, San Juan Bautista, Ridgemark, Aromas, San Martin, Interlaken.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 730× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.1 about 1.3 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 900,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 25 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 42 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 Near Morgan Hill, California · 27 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 44 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 30 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 36.9465, -121.4190. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Clara County, CA 39 km (24 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Clara County
San Benito County, CA 48 km (30 mi) SE earthquakes near San Benito County
Santa Cruz County, CA 53 km (33 mi) W earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Merced County, CA 68 km (42 mi) ENE earthquakes near Merced County
Stanislaus County, CA 78 km (48 mi) NNE earthquakes near Stanislaus County
Monterey County, CA 79 km (49 mi) S earthquakes near Monterey County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

5 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.9 5 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  2. 1.5 5 km N of Pinnacles, CA
  3. 1.4 11 km SSW of Tres Pinos, CA
  4. 2.5 10 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
  5. 1.1 1 km NE of Aromas, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.