QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Running Springs, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Running Springs in the 24 hours to 11:07 pm PST (07:07 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 13 km (8 mi) WSW, at 3:40 pm PDT on 22 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Running Springs

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) north-northeast of Running Springs, CA, at 9:48 pm PDT on 18 July 2016 (04:48 UTC), 7.2 km deep.

USGS: 10km NNE of Running Springs, CA

22 km (14 mi) NNE of Highland, CA · 128 km (80 mi) ENE of Los Angeles, CA

9:48 pm PDT, Jul 18, 2016 · · 7.2 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 95 kmSan Bernardino County 102 kmLos Angeles County 111 kmRiverside County 115 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
9:48 pm PDT on 18 July 2016 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) north-northeast of Running Springs, CA · earthquakes near Running Springs
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
7.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 95 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Cleghorn fault, 14 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 3767 days ago

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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Running Springs, 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: Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear Lake, Lucerne Valley, Big Bear City, Crestline, Highland.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.8 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 2,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 17,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 23 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 29 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 7km ENE of Running Springs, CA · 6 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 11km SSE of Big Bear Lake, California · 24 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 Near San Bernardino, California · 11 km SSW 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 34.2888, -117.0565. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 95 km (59 mi) SW earthquakes near Orange County
San Bernardino County, CA 102 km (63 mi) NE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
Los Angeles County, CA 111 km (69 mi) W earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Riverside County, CA 115 km (72 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 32km ENE of Big Bear City, CA
  2. 1.5 3km ENE of Banning, CA
  3. 1.5 8km SSW of Lytle Creek, CA
  4. 2.0 7km SSW of Devore, CA
  5. 1.7 7km SSW of Devore, CA
  6. 1.6 2km SSE of Loma Linda, CA
  7. 1.6 5km SSW of Banning, CA
  8. 1.7 10km NNW of Banning, CA
  9. 2.4 2km NE of Colton, CA
  10. 1.8 5km NW of Big Bear City, CA
  11. 1.7 10km E of Lucerne Valley, CA
  12. 1.6 12km SSE of Big Bear City, CA
  13. 1.6 4km NNW of Glen Avon, CA
  14. 1.6 13km W of Morongo Valley, CA
  15. 1.6 4km N of Big Bear City, 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.