# Earthquake San Francisco and Bay Area Today: Live Map

Updated 11:27 UTC, 29 Oct 2026. Canonical: https://monitorworld.app/live/earthquakes/bay-area

USGS listed **1 earthquake** of magnitude 2.5 or more within 100 km of San Francisco in the past 24 hours, 2 in the past 7 days and 3 in the past 30 days. The strongest of the past 30 days was an **M2.7** quake (2 km NE of Pacifica, CA) on 29 Oct 2026. In an average year this area has about 14 quakes of M3+ (USGS, 1996-2025); the past 12 months had 32, about 134% more than the 30-year average.

## Key numbers

- Earthquakes, past 24 h (M2.5+): **1**
- Past 7 days: **2**
- Past 30 days: **3**
- Strongest, past 30 days: **M2.7** (2026-10-29)

## Latest earthquakes within 100 km of San Francisco (M2.5+)

- [LOW] [M2.7 · 2 km NE of Pacifica, CA](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75459182) (2026-10-29 00:17 UTC, 11h ago, 7 km deep, USGS)
- [LOW] [M2.6 · 14 km E of Seven Trees, CA](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75455701) (2026-10-27 19:38 UTC, 40h ago, 7 km deep, USGS)
- [LOW] [M2.5 · 5 km W of Yountville, CA](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75444432) (2026-09-29 16:06 UTC, 30d ago, 8 km deep, USGS)

## Strongest earthquakes within 100 km of San Francisco, past 12 months

- [LOW] [M4.6 · 1 km SE of Boulder Creek, CA](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75337442) (2026-04-02 08:41 UTC, 210d ago, 10 km deep, USGS)
- [LOW] [M4.2 · 4 km SE of San Ramon, CA](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75305736) (2026-02-02 15:01 UTC, 269d ago, 10 km deep, USGS)
- [LOW] [M4.0 · 5 km SSE of San Ramon, CA](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75283031) (2025-12-20 03:56 UTC, 313d ago, 10 km deep, USGS)
- [LOW] [M4.0 · 6 km W of Glen Ellen, CA](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75279971) (2025-12-14 23:30 UTC, 319d ago, 3 km deep, USGS)
- [LOW] [M3.9 · 5 km SE of San Ramon, CA](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75283691) (2025-12-21 02:31 UTC, 312d ago, 10 km deep, USGS)
- [LOW] [M3.8 · 3 km N of San Leandro, CA](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75417557) (2026-08-13 15:30 UTC, 77d ago, 6 km deep, USGS)

## Key context

### What is normal within 100 km of San Francisco

Over the 30 years 1996-2025, USGS recorded 411 earthquakes of M3 or more within 100 km of San Francisco: about 14 a year, or 1.1 a month. The past 12 months had 32, about 134% more than the 30-year average. Quakes of M6 or more average 0 a year here (1 in 30 years), and none happened in the past 12 months.

Busy years usually mean one large quake and its aftershocks: the peak year here was 1997 with 30. Counts cover a circle with a 100 km (62 mile) radius around the Bay, from Santa Rosa to Monterey Bay and from the coast to the Central Valley. They come from the USGS ComCat catalog, which records small quakes more completely in the US than elsewhere, so compare like with like.

| Magnitude | 30-year total | Average per year | Past 12 months |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| M3+ | 411 | 14 | 32 |
| M4+ | 40 | 1.3 | 4 |
| M5+ | 3 | 0.1 | none |
| M6+ | 1 | 0 | none |

### Largest earthquakes recorded within 100 km of San Francisco

USGS catalog since 1900, M5.5+, inside the same area. Names as listed by USGS.

| Magnitude | Place (USGS) | Date | Depth |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| M7.9 | The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake | 1906-04-18 | 12 km |
| M6.9 | The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake | 1989-10-18 | 17 km |
| M6.5 | Near Morgan Hill, California | 1911-07-01 | 10 km |
| M6.3 | 16 km SW of Davenport, California | 1926-10-22 | 10 km |
| M6.2 | Near San Jose, California | 1903-08-03 | 0 km |
| M6.2 | The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake | 1984-04-24 | 8 km |
| M6.1 | Near San Jose, California | 1903-06-11 | 0 km |
| M6.0 | The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake | 2014-08-24 | 11 km |

### Plates and faults

The Bay Area straddles the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates. Here the plate motion is shared by the San Andreas Fault on the Peninsula and a set of parallel faults in the East Bay, mainly the Hayward, Calaveras and Concord-Green Valley faults.

The 1906 San Francisco quake (M7.9) broke more than 400 km of the San Andreas; the 1989 Loma Prieta quake (M6.9) hit the Santa Cruz Mountains; and the 2014 South Napa quake (M6.0) came from the West Napa Fault. The Hayward Fault, under Berkeley, Oakland and Fremont, last had a large quake in 1868.

- San Andreas Fault (Peninsula and Santa Cruz Mountains)
- Hayward Fault (East Bay, last large quake 1868)
- Calaveras Fault (frequent small quakes near San Ramon and Gilroy)
- Rodgers Creek Fault (Santa Rosa)
- Concord-Green Valley and Greenville faults
- The Geysers (many small quakes from geothermal production)

### Where the recent quakes were

Of the 3 quakes of the past 30 days, 3 were shallow (less than 70 km deep), 0 intermediate (70-300 km) and 0 deep (more than 300 km). 0 reached M4 or more. The places USGS named most often were Pacifica, CA (1), Seven Trees, CA (1), Yountville, CA (1).

### Official sources and warnings

- [USGS ShakeAlert and the MyShake app](https://www.shakealert.org/): early warnings for the Bay Area through Wireless Emergency Alerts, Android phones and MyShake.
- [Berkeley Seismology Lab](https://seismo.berkeley.edu/): Northern California quake monitoring and research.
- [USGS Earthquake Science Center (Moffett Field)](https://www.usgs.gov/centers/earthquake-science-center): the USGS team that studies Bay Area faults.

### What to do in an earthquake

If you feel shaking: **Drop, Cover and Hold On** until it stops. Stay away from windows and heavy furniture, and do not run outside during the shaking. On a coast, strong or long shaking is a natural tsunami warning: move to high ground or inland at once, on foot if you can. Then follow your local officials; this page is not a warning service.

In the Bay Area, Drop, Cover and Hold On, and keep emergency alerts on so ShakeAlert warnings reach you. Many small Bay Area quakes come from The Geysers geothermal field north of Santa Rosa and are not a sign of a larger quake.

## FAQ

### Was there an earthquake within 100 km of San Francisco today?

Yes. USGS listed 1 quake of M2.5+ within 100 km of San Francisco in the past 24 hours (as of 11:27 UTC); the latest was a M2.7 2 km NE of Pacifica, CA at 00:17 UTC. Smaller quakes may only appear on USGS ShakeAlert and the MyShake app.

### How many earthquakes does San Francisco Bay Area have per year?

From 1996 to 2025, USGS recorded about 14 quakes of M3+, about 1.3 quakes of M4+, about 0.1 quakes of M5+, about 0 quakes of M6+ per year within 100 km of San Francisco. Counting all sizes, local networks record far more, because most quakes are too small to feel.

### What was the biggest earthquake within 100 km of San Francisco?

The largest quake in the USGS catalog for this area since 1900 is the M7.9 The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake of 18 Apr 1906. The table above lists the largest 8.

### Where can I get official earthquake alerts for San Francisco Bay Area?

[USGS ShakeAlert and the MyShake app](https://www.shakealert.org/): early warnings for the Bay Area through Wireless Emergency Alerts, Android phones and MyShake. [Berkeley Seismology Lab](https://seismo.berkeley.edu/): Northern California quake monitoring and research. [USGS Earthquake Science Center (Moffett Field)](https://www.usgs.gov/centers/earthquake-science-center): the USGS team that studies Bay Area faults.

### How likely is a big earthquake in the Bay Area?

No one can predict it. USGS long-term forecasts (UCERF3) put the chance of a M6.7+ quake in the San Francisco Bay region in the 30 years from 2014 at 72%, with the Hayward Fault the most likely source. It is a probability for planning, not a forecast of a date.

### Why are there so many small quakes near The Geysers?

The Geysers is the largest geothermal field in the world. Injecting water and producing steam there changes the stress in the rock, so it has many small quakes every day, mostly below M3. They are recorded by USGS and appear on this map.

### Can earthquakes be predicted?

No. USGS states that no scientist has ever predicted a major earthquake. Scientists can only estimate the long-term probability of quakes in an area. Early-warning systems such as ShakeAlert detect a quake that has already started and warn seconds before the shaking arrives.

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## Sources

- [USGS Earthquake Hazards Program](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/feed/): real-time GeoJSON feeds, public domain. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey.
- [USGS ComCat (FDSN event web service)](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/): the USGS earthquake catalog, used for the 30-year counts, history and aftershocks. Public domain. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey.

## Related

- [Earthquakes today](https://monitorworld.app/live/earthquakes-today): Every M2.5+ quake worldwide in the past 24 hours.
- [Earthquake near me](https://monitorworld.app/live/earthquake-near-me): Sort recent quakes by distance from you.
- [California earthquakes](https://monitorworld.app/live/earthquakes/california): Live map and the 30-year normal in California.
- [Los Angeles earthquakes](https://monitorworld.app/live/earthquakes/los-angeles): Live map and the 30-year normal within 100 km of Los Angeles.
- [Alaska earthquakes](https://monitorworld.app/live/earthquakes/alaska): Live map and the 30-year normal in Alaska.
- [Hawaii earthquakes](https://monitorworld.app/live/earthquakes/hawaii): Live map and the 30-year normal in Hawaii.
- [Earthquakes by region](https://monitorworld.app/live/earthquakes): All regions and every M5.5+ quake page.
- [Tsunami warning today](https://monitorworld.app/live/tsunami-warning): Latest US tsunami bulletins.