Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Garnet, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Garnet in the 24 hours to 9:08 pm PST (05:08 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 60 km (37 mi) SSW, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Garnet
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) west-southwest of Garnet, CA, at 7:32 am PDT on 3 April 2016 (14:32 UTC), 14 km deep.
USGS: 8km W of Garnet, CA
16 km (10 mi) WNW of Cathedral City, CA · 129 km (80 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 7:32 am PDT on 3 April 2016 ()
- Where
- 14 km (9 mi) west-southwest of Garnet, CA · earthquakes near Garnet
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 60 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 3 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 3874 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Garnet, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Garnet, 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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Garnet, 14 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, Cabazon, Desert Edge, Morongo Valley, Idyllwild-Pine Cove.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 730,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 520,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 46× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 4.4 on 2016-01-06 — about 5,600 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 32 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 39 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 35 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 40 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 29 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 29 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 33.8893, -116.6252. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 60 km (37 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 97 km (60 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Orange County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 115 km (71 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| Imperial County, CA | 151 km (94 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 17km ESE of Anza, CA
- 2.3 2km E of Nuevo, CA
- 1.7 20km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.9 5km SW of Idyllwild, CA
- 2.2 12km NE of Yucaipa, CA
- 1.8 3km ENE of Cabazon, CA
- 1.5 19km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.9 4km SW of Idyllwild, CA
- 1.6 9km N of Banning, CA
- 1.8 4km ENE of Calimesa, CA
- 1.5 4km SSE of Cabazon, CA
- 1.9 4km N of Beaumont, CA
- 2.2 24km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.6 5km SW of Idyllwild, CA
- 2.3 13km W of Anza, 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.