November 26, 1858 Earthquake: San Jose,san Francisco, California, United States
An earthquake struck San Jose,san Francisco, California, United States on November 26, 1858 at 08:35:00 UTC.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- November 26, 1858
- Time
- 08:35:00 UTC
- Place
- San Jose,san Francisco, California, United States
- Intensity
- IX, violent shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 37.500° N, 122.000° W
- Country
- United States
- Region
- North America and Hawaii
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
The toll
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
The earthquake was severe at San Jose, where an adobe house and the corner of a new building were knocked down. A cornice was thrown off a building in San Francisco, and part of a chimney collapsed at Mountain View. It was felt as far as Downieville, Mariposa and Monterey. (Ref. 38, 56, 368.)
Maximum observed Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) VII
Abridged from Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989 (Revised), by Carl W. Stover and Jerry L. Coffman, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1993.
In addition to the reports described above, chimneys were thrown down and bells rang at San Jose. People were awakened, objects were thrown down and a number of buildings were cracked at San Francisco. At Stockton, a brick building cracked, plaster was shaken from a ceiling, goods were thrown from shelves and most people were awakened. It was felt strongly at Napa, Pacheco and San Leandro and it was also felt at Petaluma.
Abridged from Preparation of isoseismal maps and summaries of reported effects for pre-1900 California earthquakes, by T.R. Toppozada, C.R. Real and D.L. Parke, California Division of Mines and Geology Open-File Report 81-11 SAC, Sacramento: 1981; updated and presented by interactive map on California Geological Survey website (http://maps.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/historicearthquakes/).
From the USGS event page for cdmg18581126083500000. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Magnitude estimates
The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.2 | Mw, moment | CDMG | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 6.1 | ML, local (Richter) | USGS historic United States catalog | Final |
References for the magnitude and location
The USGS’s notes on how this earthquake’s official magnitude and location were set.
Location and Magnitude updated 23-Mar-2021
Reference:
California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey
Downloadable list of magnitude 4 and greater earthquakes, compiled from various sources (1769-2000)
online at https://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/Pages/Earthquakes/earthquake-catalog.aspx
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #1074 Wood, Harry O., Maxwell W. Allen, and N.H. Heck (1934). Destructive and Near-Destructive Earthquakes in California and Western Nevada, 1769-1933, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Publication no. 191, 24 p.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- April 18, 1906, San Francisco, California, United States
- October 18, 1989, Loma Prieta, California, United States
- October 21, 1868, Hayward,san Francisco, California, United States
- August 24, 2014, Napa, Vallejo, California, United States
- October 2, 1969, Santa Rosa, California, United States
- July 4, 1861, Contra Costa,alameda Counties, California, United States
- October 31, 2007, San Jose, California, United States
- February 15, 1856, Northern, California, United States
- September 24, 1859, Half Moon Bay, California, United States
- April 24, 1984, Morgan Hill, Central, California, United States
- October 8, 1865, Santa Cruz, California, United States
- June 1838, San Francisco,san Jose,santa Clara, California, United States
- July 20, 2007, Montclair, California, United States
- January 24, 1980, Livermore, California, United States
- February 10, 1869, San Francisco, California, United States
More
Significant earthquakes of 1858The 1800sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 2031. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event cdmg18581126083500000, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.