Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Salinas, CA
Yes. A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 41 km (25 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA, at 5:14 am PDT on 12 October 2026 (12:14 UTC), 8.5 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 10 km NW of Pinnacles, CA
94 km (58 mi) SE of San Jose, CA · 39 km (24 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA
- When
- 5:14 am PDT on 12 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 41 km (25 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA · earthquakes near Salinas
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 8.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 11 km E
- 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 21 hours ago
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Salinas, 41 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Soledad, Gonzales, Ridgemark, Chualar.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 30,000 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 · 15 km N of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 8 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 31 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 12 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 3 km ENE of Tres Pinos, California · 23 km NNW 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 36.6018, -121.2105. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 11 km (7 mi) | E | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 41 km (26 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Merced County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 81 km (50 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | N | earthquakes near Stanislaus 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.
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.