Update: Magnitude 4.3 earthquake jolts UC Berkeley

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake rattled Berkeley early Monday morning, at least the second quake in the Southside neighborhood in recent weeks.

The quake’s epicenter was on Dwight Way, near Piedmont Avenue, just south of UC Berkeley at a depth of 4.9 miles, according to early reports.

The earthquake was recorded at 2:56 a.m., the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

Many people said the shaking woke them up. Some, on Reddit, described it as terrifying.

“I can still feel the shaking in my bones,” wrote one local resident.

Some said the temblor seemed to last about five seconds.

The earthquake was initially listed as magnitude 4.6, even after a manual review. It was downgraded by the USGS sometime after 3 a.m.

But it was still one of the largest quakes recorded in the Bay Area in recent years.

UC Berkeley put out an alert about the quake through its Safety App at 3:07 a.m.

Berkeley earthquakes since 2023

There have been just seven other earthquakes in or near Berkeley, of magnitude 2.5 or greater, since Jan. 1, 2023, according to USGS data.

Earthquakes in or near Berkeley since Jan. 1, 2023. *USGS*

July 27, 2023: magnitude 2.7 in Berkeley on Roble Road
Oct. 4, 2023: magnitude 2.5 in Berkeley just east of The Uplands
Oct. 24, 2023: magnitude 2.5 in Berkeley on Cyclotron Road
April 6, 2024: magnitude 3.2 in Oakland under the Claremont Hotel
April 1, 2025: magnitude 2.7 in Oakland east of Grizzly Peak Boulevard
June 1, 2025: magnitude 2.5 in Oakland just south of Highway 24
Aug. 31, 2025: magnitude 2.6 earthquake in Berkeley at Clark Kerr

Other Bay Area earthquakes have also made their presence known in Berkeley in recent years, including a magnitude 5.1 quake east of San Jose in October 2022 and a 3.6 magnitude quake in El Cerrito in December of the same year.

In October 2023, earthquakes in the Sacramento Delta (4.2 magnitude) and at the San Francisco airport (3.7 magnitude) both were felt in Berkeley, in addition to two smaller quakes in Berkeley proper.

Learn more about the Hayward Fault on the USGS website and find out how close you live to it. Brush up on earthquake preparedness tips from the city of Berkeley.