EARTHQUAKEM2.6

M2.6 earthquake near Berkeley, CA

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

A magnitude 2.6 earthquake struck 3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Berkeley, CA on Monday, November 2, 2026 at 02:23 UTC, at a depth of 10 km (6 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 Oakland, California, about 11 km (7 mi) away.

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

MagnitudeM2.6
Depth10 km (6 mi)
Time (UTC)Nov 2 02:23
Location37.87°N 122.24°W
Nearest townBerkeley · 3 km
Energy0 tons TNT
Aftershocks M2.5+1
Tsunami flagNo
Felt reports102
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Why here?

This earthquake struck about 31 km (20 mi) from 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 2.6 released roughly the energy of 0 tons of TNT. The strongest earthquake ever recorded, magnitude 9.5 in Chile in 1960, released about 22,000,000,000 times more than this one.

Aftershocks

In the first 7 hours after it, USGS recorded 1 smaller earthquake of magnitude 2.5 or more within 100 km (62 mi). It was a magnitude 2.5 on November 2 at 09:23 UTC.

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 21 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 November 2, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

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