Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Big Bear Lake, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Big Bear Lake in the 24 hours to 10:54 pm PST (06:54 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 7 km (4 mi) NE, at 1:40 am PDT on 6 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 18 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Big Bear Lake
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) south of Big Bear Lake, CA, at 10:23 pm PST on 17 February 2017 (06:23 UTC), 8.2 km deep.
USGS: 12km S of Big Bear Lake, CA
17 km (11 mi) NE of Yucaipa, CA · 140 km (87 mi) E of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 10:23 pm PST on 17 February 2017 ()
- Where
- 12 km (7 mi) south of Big Bear Lake, CA · earthquakes near Big Bear Lake
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 95 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 6 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 3467 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Big Bear Lake, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Big Bear Lake, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Bear Lake, 12 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: Big Bear City, Yucaipa, Cherry Valley, Running Springs, Calimesa, Mentone.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 7,700 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 31 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 43 km E of this epicentre
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 42 km S of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 10 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 33 km W of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 31 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 34.1372, -116.9015. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 96 km (59 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 104 km (64 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 19km N of Cabazon, CA
- 1.6 6km SW of Idyllwild, CA
- 1.5 1km SW of Loma Linda, CA
- 2.0 5km SW of Idyllwild, CA
- 3.1 2km ESE of Loma Linda, CA
- 1.8 9km NNW of Big Bear Lake, CA
- 2.1 6km SE of Valle Vista, CA
- 1.5 3km NE of Fontana, CA
- 1.8 4km SE of Loma Linda, CA
- 1.9 11km NE of Running Springs, CA
- 1.6 7km NE of Banning, CA
- 1.7 4km SE of Yucaipa, CA
- 1.9 4km NNE of Cabazon, CA
- 3.0 3km SE of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.5 2km NNE of Colton, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.