M1.9 earthquake 3 km S of San Andreas, California
A magnitude 1.9 earthquake struck 3 km S of San Andreas, California on Tue, Sep 8, 1981, 9:54 AM PDT (16:54 UTC), 0 km (0 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M2.9 3 km ESE of Brentwood, California. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 1.9 (Md, duration), micro
- Magnitude from
- Northern California Seismic System
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-09-08 16:54:00 UTC
- Depth
- -0.1 km (-0.1 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 38.164° N, 120.678° W
- Region
- California
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 0.7 km horizontally, 1.3 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.24
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 166°
- Stations used
- 7
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 1.84 km S of San Andreas, California · 16455 days ago · 0 km deep · 1 km away
- 2.513 km SW of Markleeville, California · 16446 days ago · 7 km deep · 85 km away
- 2.011 km ESE of Greeley Hill, California · 16439 days ago · 19 km deep · 78 km away
- 2.93 km ESE of Brentwood, California · 16439 days ago · 9 km deep · 89 km away
- 2.110 km SSW of Tracy, California · 16434 days ago · 9 km deep · 89 km away
- 1.917 km W of Kirkwood, California · 16428 days ago · 14 km deep · 72 km away
- 2.03 km SSE of Brentwood, California · 16423 days ago · 2 km deep · 92 km away
- 1.63 km ENE of Grayson, California · 16417 days ago · -1 km deep · 77 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayCalifornia earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event nc1067454. Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 5:19 PM UTC.