Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9ml
Earthquake near Big Bear City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Big Bear City in the 24 hours to 9:11 pm PST (05:11 UTC). The last one was M 1.5, 10 km (6 mi) ESE, at 12:11 pm PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Big Bear City
This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) north-northeast of Big Bear City, CA, at 9:06 pm PDT on 24 March 2016 (04:06 UTC), 6.3 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 38km ENE of Lucerne Valley, CA
56 km (35 mi) E of Apple Valley, CA · 103 km (64 mi) NE of Riverside, CA
- When
- 9:06 pm PDT on 24 March 2016 ()
- Where
- 43 km (27 mi) north-northeast of Big Bear City, CA · earthquakes near Big Bear City
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- San Bernardino County, 48 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Camp Rock-Emerson-Copper Mountain fault, 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1563 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Big Bear City, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Big Bear City, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 30 km (19 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Bear City, 43 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 630 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 24,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 17,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 630 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2016-02-20 — about 140 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 46 km SSE of this epicentre
- 7.1 The 1999 Hector Mine, California Earthquake · 31 km E of this epicentre
- 6.5 The 1947 Manix, California Earthquake · 44 km N of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 48 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WSW of Ludlow, CA · 30 km ENE of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 34.5953, -116.5998. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Bernardino County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| Riverside County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 149 km (93 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 10km ENE of Barstow, CA
- 2.5 10km ENE of Barstow, CA
- 1.7 10km ENE of Barstow, CA
- 2.5 10km ENE of Barstow, CA
- 2.0 10km ENE of Barstow, CA
- 2.8 10km ENE of Barstow, CA
- 2.2 34km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.6 17km NNE of Apple Valley, CA
- 1.6 4km N of Big Bear City, CA
- 2.3 28km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.5 27km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 2.3 38km ENE of Lucerne Valley, CA
- 1.6 24km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.9 13km W of Ludlow, CA
- 1.6 7km WSW of Ludlow, CA
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.