QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Julian, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Julian in the 24 hours to 3:08 am PST (11:08 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 151 km (94 mi) ESE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Julian

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Julian, CA, at 8:36 pm PDT on 20 March 2017 (03:36 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 13km ESE of Julian, CA

65 km (40 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA · 50 km (31 mi) ENE of Santee, CA

8:36 pm PDT, Mar 20, 2017 · · 10 km deep · released about 6.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Julian Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 28 kmRiverside County 91 kmImperial County 105 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
8:36 pm PDT on 20 March 2017 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Julian, CA · earthquakes near Julian
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Diego County, 28 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Elsinore 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 3467 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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Julian, 13 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: Descanso, Pine Valley, San Diego Country Estates, Borrego Springs.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.4 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 2,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 5.2 on 2016-06-10 — about 290,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 40 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 49 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 48 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 41 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 8km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, CA · 42 km ENE 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 33.0167, -116.4807. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA 28 km (17 mi) W earthquakes near San Diego County
Riverside County, CA 91 km (56 mi) NNE earthquakes near Riverside County
Imperial County, CA 105 km (65 mi) E earthquakes near Imperial County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 14 km NE of Borrego Springs, California
  2. 1.5 18 km S of Salton City, California
  3. 2.9 22 km SSW of Salton City, California
  4. 2.0 7 km S of Borrego Springs, California
  5. 1.8 22 km NNE of Ramona, California
  6. 1.9 15 km ENE of Mt Laguna, California
  7. 1.5 7 km NNW of Borrego Springs, California
  8. 1.7 14 km SSW of Salton City, California
  9. 1.9 10 km S of Mt Laguna, California
  10. 2.1 8 km NNW of Borrego Springs, California
  11. 1.6 12 km SSW of Salton City, California
  12. 1.8 8km E of Palomar Observatory, CA
  13. 1.8 22km N of Borrego Springs, CA
  14. 2.1 13km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  15. 3.0 16km NNE of Borrego Springs, 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.