Earthquake Recap: Five Little Shakers Hit Santa Clara County

Five quakes averaging a 1.5 on the Richter scale smattered through Santa Clara County last week.

The closest quakes were in Los Altos. The first, a 1.5 on May 22, struck at 11:35 a.m., three miles south of the city. Two days later, another 1.5 rumbled through at 11:29 a.m. Both registered a shallow depth of 0.0 km, a sign that they could be the result of local quarry blasts and not actual earthquakes.

A 1.5 quake struck four miles southwest of Gilroy on May 24 at 7:11 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey's website. Its epicenter was a relatively shallow three miles below the earth’s surface.

Milpitas saw the strongest quake to come out of the county. This one took place on May 23 and rang in a 1.9 on the Richter scale. It struck at 8:26 a.m., eight miles northeast of the city.

A milder quake shook up another strip of land northeast of Milpitas on May 25 at 3:20 a.m. This one came in at a 1.1.

Hollister also saw a pair of shakers over the last few days. A 1.0 trembler hit six miles north of the city at 4:59 a.m. on May 26. Another early morning quake—and another 1.0—struck four miles northeast 2:34 a.m. on May 27.