QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Lake Arrowhead, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Lake Arrowhead in the 24 hours to 12:12 am PST (08:12 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 11 km (7 mi) SSW, at 3:40 pm PDT on 22 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lake Arrowhead

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded in Lake Arrowhead, CA, at 8:25 am PDT on 19 July 2016 (15:25 UTC), 6.3 km deep.

USGS: 2km NNE of Lake Arrowhead, CA

17 km (10 mi) N of Highland, CA · 116 km (72 mi) ENE of Los Angeles, CA

8:25 am PDT, Jul 19, 2016 · · 6.3 km deep · released about 5.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 85 kmLos Angeles County 100 kmSan Bernardino County 113 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
8:25 am PDT on 19 July 2016 ()
Where
in Lake Arrowhead, CA · earthquakes near Lake Arrowhead
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
6.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 85 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Cleghorn fault, 5 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 3768 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. 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.

Likely felt in: Lake Arrowhead in town, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 21,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 33 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 21 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 7km ENE of Running Springs, CA · 13 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 The 1990 Upland, California Earthquake · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 11km SSE of Big Bear Lake, California · 32 km ESE 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 34.2618, -117.1797. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 85 km (53 mi) SW earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 100 km (62 mi) W earthquakes near Los Angeles County
San Bernardino County, CA 113 km (70 mi) NE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
Riverside County, CA 124 km (77 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside 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. 3.1 13km WNW of Morongo Valley, CA
  2. 1.5 3km ENE of Banning, CA
  3. 1.5 8km SSW of Lytle Creek, CA
  4. 1.8 2km SW of Mira Loma, CA
  5. 2.0 7km SSW of Devore, CA
  6. 1.7 7km SSW of Devore, CA
  7. 1.6 2km SSE of Loma Linda, 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.