QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near San Diego, CA

USGS: 29km SW of La Jolla, CA

39 km (24 mi) WSW of San Diego, CA

5:20 pm PDT, Sep 19, 2018 · · 17 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near San Diego Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 79 kmOrange County 112 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
5:20 pm PDT on 19 September 2018 ()
Where
34 km (21 mi) W of San Diego, CA · earthquakes near San Diego
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Diego County, 79 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
San Diego Trough 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 2901 days ago

A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 34 km (21 mi) W of San Diego, CA, at 5:20 pm PDT on 19 September 2018 (00:20 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
  4. 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

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

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.5 The 1986 Oceanside, California Earthquake · 45 km NW 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 32.6933, -117.5227. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA 79 km (49 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Diego County
Orange County, CA 112 km (69 mi) NNW earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 32km W of La Jolla, CA
  2. 2.7 45km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  3. 1.7 4km NE of San Ysidro, CA
  4. 1.5 4km NE of San Ysidro, CA
  5. 2.6 44km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  6. 3.4 47km ESE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  7. 2.1 49km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  8. 3.2 26km WSW of Encinitas, CA
  9. 1.7 3km NE of San Ysidro, CA
  10. 2.1 41km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  11. 2.0 49km WSW of Encinitas, CA
  12. 2.2 16km SW of La Jolla, CA
  13. 1.8 6km SE of Chula Vista, CA
  14. 1.8 49km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  15. 1.7 3km ESE of La Jolla, 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.