QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.0md

Earthquake near Los Altos Hills, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Los Altos Hills in the 24 hours to 3:22 am PST (11:22 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 10 km (6 mi) SE, at 9:23 am PST on 10 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 4 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Los Altos Hills

This page: a magnitude 1.0 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Los Altos Hills, CA, at 7:17 pm PDT on 22 October 2026 (02:17 UTC), 2.3 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 5 km SSW of Los Altos Hills, CA

6 km (4 mi) SSW of Palo Alto, CA · 31 km (19 mi) W of San Jose, CA

7:17 pm PDT, Oct 22, 2026 · · 2.3 km deep · released about 0.83 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Mateo County 21 kmSanta Cruz County 39 kmAlameda County 40 kmSanta Clara County 43 kmContra Costa County 67 kmSan Francisco County 88 kmMarin County 94 kmSan Joaquin County 102 kmSolano County 105 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
7:17 pm PDT on 22 October 2026 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Los Altos Hills, CA · earthquakes near Los Altos Hills
Magnitude
M 1.0 (md)
Depth
2.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Mateo County, 21 km WNW
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 21 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: Loyola, Los Altos, Ladera, Mountain View, Portola Valley, Stanford.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 0.83 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 13,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.0 about 0.83 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 1,400,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 42 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 16 km SW of Davenport, California · 49 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 Near San Jose, California · 32 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · 42 km E of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 Near San Jose, California · 35 km ESE 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 37.3408, -122.1572. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Mateo County, CA 21 km (13 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Mateo County
Santa Cruz County, CA 39 km (24 mi) SSE earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Alameda County, CA 40 km (25 mi) NNE earthquakes near Alameda County
Santa Clara County, CA 43 km (27 mi) ESE earthquakes near Santa Clara County
Contra Costa County, CA 67 km (42 mi) NNE earthquakes near Contra Costa County
San Francisco County, CA 88 km (55 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Francisco County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 4 km NNW of Pacifica, CA
  2. 1.7 15 km E of Seven Trees, CA
  3. 1.4 15 km N of Morgan Hill, CA
  4. 2.0 4 km WSW of Cupertino, CA
  5. 1.2 15 km ENE of Alum Rock, CA
  6. 1.3 5 km NNW of Pacifica, CA
  7. 1.9 5 km SW of Dublin, CA
  8. 1.5 3 km WSW of Daly City, CA
  9. 1.8 9 km ESE of Lexington Hills, CA
  10. 1.0 2 km NE of Pacifica, CA
  11. 2.7 2 km NE of Pacifica, CA
  12. 1.2 8 km NE of Alum Rock, CA
  13. 1.3 15 km E of Seven Trees, CA
  14. 2.6 14 km E of Seven Trees, CA
  15. 1.1 17 km E of Alum Rock, 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.