EARTHQUAKEM2.7

M2.7 earthquake near Pacifica, CA

Map: the earthquake near Pacifica, CA, with plate boundaries

A magnitude 2.7 earthquake struck 2 km (1 mi) northeast of Pacifica, CA on Thursday, October 29, 2026 at 00:17 UTC, at a depth of 6 km (4 mi), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Shallow quakes like this one shake the surface hardest. The nearest city of a million or more people is San Francisco, California, about 17 km (10 mi) away.

475 people reported feeling it to USGS “Did You Feel It?”.

MagnitudeM2.7
Depth6 km (4 mi)
Time (UTC)Oct 29 00:17
Location37.63°N 122.47°W
Nearest townPacifica · 2 km
Energy0 tons TNT
Aftershocks M2.5+0
Tsunami flagNo
Felt reports475
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Why here?

This earthquake struck right along the boundary between the North American and Pacific plates. Most earthquakes happen along plate boundaries like this one, where the pieces of Earth’s outer shell collide, pull apart or grind past each other. Stress builds up over years until the rock suddenly slips.

The red lines on the map are plate boundaries.

How strong was it?

Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step releases about 32 times more energy. This magnitude 2.7 released roughly the energy of 0 tons of TNT. The strongest earthquake ever recorded, magnitude 9.5 in Chile in 1960, released about 16,000,000,000 times more than this one.

Aftershocks

In the first 2 hours after it, USGS recorded no smaller earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more within 100 km (62 mi).

Outside the United States, USGS mainly lists quakes of about magnitude 4 and up, so smaller aftershocks there are undercounted.

Earthquake history here

Before this earthquake, USGS had recorded 18 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger within 300 km (186 mi) since 1900. The strongest:

Official details, updates and the shaking map: USGS event page.

See every earthquake on October 29, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

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