QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Idyllwild, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Idyllwild in the 24 hours to 10:20 pm PST (06:20 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 19 km (12 mi) WNW, at 1:04 am PDT on 11 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 58 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Idyllwild

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) north-northwest of Idyllwild, CA, at 8:59 pm PDT on 5 April 2016 (03:59 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 10km NNW of Idyllwild, CA

18 km (11 mi) ESE of Beaumont, CA · 118 km (73 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

8:59 pm PDT, Apr 5, 2016 · · 16 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Idyllwild Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 71 kmSan Diego County 89 kmOrange County 95 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
8:59 pm PDT on 5 April 2016 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) north-northwest of Idyllwild, CA · earthquakes near Idyllwild
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 71 km E
Nearest mapped fault
San Jacinto fault, 8 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 3872 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Idyllwild, 10 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: Idyllwild-Pine Cove, Cabazon, Valle Vista, Banning, San Jacinto, East Hemet.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 11,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 29 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 21 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 42 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 44 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 43 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 24 km NE 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 33.8260, -116.7627. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 71 km (44 mi) E earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 89 km (55 mi) S earthquakes near San Diego County
Orange County, CA 95 km (59 mi) W earthquakes near Orange County
San Bernardino County, CA 126 km (79 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Bernardino County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 6km ESE of Valle Vista, CA
  2. 2.3 8km NNW of Anza, CA
  3. 1.7 3km WSW of Yucaipa, CA
  4. 1.6 17km ESE of Anza, CA
  5. 1.5 5km N of Moreno Valley, CA
  6. 2.3 2km E of Nuevo, CA
  7. 1.7 20km ESE of Anza, CA
  8. 1.9 5km SW of Idyllwild, CA
  9. 2.2 12km NE of Yucaipa, CA
  10. 1.8 3km ENE of Cabazon, CA
  11. 1.5 19km ESE of Anza, CA
  12. 1.9 4km SW of Idyllwild, CA
  13. 1.6 9km N of Banning, CA
  14. 1.8 4km ENE of Calimesa, CA
  15. 1.5 4km SSE of Cabazon, 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

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