QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Pine Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Pine Valley in the 24 hours to 6:05 pm PST (02:05 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 6 km (4 mi) NW, at 2:04 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 17 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Pine Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) north-northeast of Pine Valley, CA, at 3:13 am PDT on 23 March 2017 (10:13 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 17km NNE of Pine Valley, CA

68 km (42 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA · 52 km (32 mi) ENE of El Cajon, CA

3:13 am PDT, Mar 23, 2017 · · 11 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Pine Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 33 kmRiverside County 95 kmImperial County 101 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
3:13 am PDT on 23 March 2017 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) north-northeast of Pine Valley, CA · earthquakes near Pine Valley
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Diego County, 33 km WNW
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 3466 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Pine Valley, 17 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, Julian.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. 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

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

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 40 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 41 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 8km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, CA · 42 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 1km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA · 35 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 13km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA · 44 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 32.9508, -116.4295. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA 33 km (21 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Diego County
Riverside County, CA 95 km (59 mi) NNE earthquakes near Riverside County
Imperial County, CA 101 km (63 mi) E earthquakes near Imperial 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. 2.4 7km SE of Julian, CA
  2. 3.2 27km WSW of Westmorland, CA
  3. 1.7 6km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
  4. 2.0 11km NE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  5. 2.0 14 km NE of Borrego Springs, California
  6. 1.5 18 km S of Salton City, California
  7. 2.9 22 km SSW of Salton City, California
  8. 2.0 7 km S of Borrego Springs, California
  9. 1.8 22 km NNE of Ramona, California
  10. 1.9 15 km ENE of Mt Laguna, California
  11. 1.5 7 km NNW of Borrego Springs, California
  12. 1.7 14 km SSW of Salton City, California
  13. 1.9 10 km S of Mt Laguna, California
  14. 2.1 8 km NNW of Borrego Springs, California
  15. 1.6 12 km SSW of Salton City, California

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.