QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near San Diego, CA

USGS: 7km SSW of La Jolla, CA

16 km (10 mi) W of San Diego, CA

2:20 pm PDT, Apr 5, 2016 · · 8.2 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Diego Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 56 kmOrange County 108 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
2:20 pm PDT on 5 April 2016 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) WNW of San Diego, CA · earthquakes near San Diego
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
8.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Diego County, 56 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon fault, 7 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 3832 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) WNW of San Diego, CA, at 2:20 pm PDT on 5 April 2016 (21:20 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Coronado, Del Mar, National City, Solana Beach, Fairbanks Ranch, Lemon Grove.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 32.7887, -117.3020. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA 56 km (35 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Diego County
Orange County, CA 108 km (67 mi) NNW earthquakes near Orange County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

47 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 30km SW of Coronado, CA
  2. 1.6 6km SE of Chula Vista, CA
  3. 1.6 6km N of Lakeside, CA
  4. 1.5 6km ESE of Chula Vista, CA
  5. 1.5 4 km NNE of Rancho Penasquitos, California
  6. 2.8 44 km W of La Jolla, California
  7. 1.8 40 km WSW of Carlsbad, California
  8. 1.6 1km WSW of Tijuana, B.C., MX
  9. 2.0 28km W of La Jolla, CA
  10. 1.7 4km WNW of Alpine, CA
  11. 2.2 41km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  12. 2.5 41km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  13. 1.8 41km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  14. 2.9 6km ESE of Tijuana, B.C., MX
  15. 2.0 6km ESE of Tijuana, B.C., MX

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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.