Was there an earthquake near Big Sur today?

The live helicorder on this page shows the ground in Soquel, 81 km (50 miles) from Big Sur, refreshed every five minutes; a wide dark burst on the newest line is an earthquake. The most recent USGS-cataloged earthquake within 50 km of Big Sur was M2.2 4 km E of Lopez Point, CA, 38 km from Big Sur, on June 30, 2026 at 10:26 AM PDT.

How many earthquakes has Big Sur had this year?

USGS lists 3 earthquakes of M2.0 or more within 50 km of Big Sur so far in 2026, and 4 since the start of 2025. Most are too small to feel. The Soquel station recorded 0 of them.

Where do these magnitudes come from?

From the USGS catalog. A single home seismograph measures how hard the ground moved at one spot; it cannot compute an earthquake's magnitude or location. Quakes marked as recorded in Soquel are ones whose ground motion this station captured within 90 seconds of the USGS origin time.

Big Sur, California · 81 km (50 miles) from the Soquel seismograph

Earthquake near Big Sur just now?

Most recent nearby quake (USGS): M2.2 4 km E of Lopez Point, CA, 38 km (24 mi) from Big Sur, June 30, 2026 at 10:26 AM PDT. The trace below is the ground moving right now, refreshed every five minutes. Felt it? Tell the USGS — "Did You Feel It?"

3 so far in 2026 within 50 km (31 miles), per the USGS catalog. Catalog refreshed daily.

Is the ground moving near Big Sur right now?

Live helicorder from Soquel, 81 km from Big Sur and about six miles from the 1989 Loma Prieta epicenter — refreshed every five minutes. Each line is one hour; an earthquake is a wide dark burst.

Live 24-hour helicorder trace from the Soquel seismic station — Each horizontal line is 60 minutes of ground motion — time runs left to right, top to bottom. Darker traces mean stronger motion. A 24-hour rolling window recorded by a home station in Soquel, California, refreshed here automatically every five minutes. **Click the chart to open it full-size and read the timestamps and traces.**

USGS Catalog · Recent Earthquakes loading…

Mag	When	Where	From station

Earthquakes from the USGS catalog over the last 7 days — those near enough (M2.5+ within 500 km) or large enough (M6+ anywhere) to leave a mark on the trace above. This is the USGS record of what happened, not a claim about what this station detected — for the station's own confirmed catches see the detected-earthquake catalog.

Every earthquake within 50 km of Big Sur since 2025

USGS catalog, M2.0 and above, newest first. ✓ Soquel marks the ones this station recorded; where the station has its own page for the event, the mark is a link. The largest in this window: M2.2 4 km E of Lopez Point, CA, June 30, 2026.

When (Pacific)	Mag.	USGS location	From Big Sur	Soquel
June 30, 2026 at 10:26 AM PDT	M2.2	4 km E of Lopez Point, CA	38 km · 24 mi	—
June 20, 2026 at 11:29 PM PDT	M2.1	13 km S of Carmel By The Sea, CA	22 km · 14 mi	—
June 20, 2026 at 3:43 AM PDT	M2.1	14 km S of Carmel By The Sea, CA	22 km · 14 mi	—
June 27, 2025 at 11:06 AM PDT	M2.2	14 km SE of Point Sur, CA	5 km · 3 mi	—

What this page is. The list is the USGS catalog for a 50 km circle around Big Sur; magnitudes, places and times are theirs. The one thing measured here is the ground motion in Soquel, 81 km away, on a short-period seismograph run since 2002 — the trace at the top, and the ✓ marks below it. Data refreshed daily.

Nearby towns

Earthquakes near Carmel-by-the-Sea · Earthquakes near Monterey · Earthquakes near Seaside · Earthquakes near Marina · Earthquakes near Salinas · Earthquakes near San Juan Bautista

All earthquakes near Santa Cruz this station has recorded · The seismic station · Full station catalog and CSV download