QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Yucca Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Yucca Valley in the 24 hours to 6:55 am PST (14:55 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 18 km (11 mi) SE, at 9:51 am PDT on 1 August 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 46 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Yucca Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) north of Yucca Valley, CA, at 4:55 pm PDT on 25 March 2017 (23:55 UTC), 4.0 km deep.

USGS: 8km N of Yucca Valley, CA

94 km (58 mi) ENE of Riverside, CA · 39 km (24 mi) N of Cathedral City, CA

4:55 pm PDT, Mar 25, 2017 · · 4.0 km deep · released about 14 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Yucca Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 64 kmSan Bernardino County 78 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
4:55 pm PDT on 25 March 2017 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) north of Yucca Valley, CA · earthquakes near Yucca Valley
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
4.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 64 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Pinto Mountain fault (includes Morongo Valley 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

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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Yucca Valley, 8 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.

Likely felt in: Yucca Valley 8 km, intensity II · Joshua Tree 11 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 14 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 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 8,500 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 37 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 2 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 The 1999 Hector Mine, California Earthquake · 48 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 37 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 27 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 24 km SSE 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 34.1863, -116.4207. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 64 km (40 mi) SE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Bernardino County, CA 78 km (48 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Bernardino County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 6km ESE of Cabazon, CA
  2. 1.6 8km N of Cabazon, CA
  3. 1.9 4km SSW of Cabazon, CA
  4. 3.0 19km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
  5. 3.4 4km SSW of Cabazon, CA
  6. 3.2 5km SSW of Cabazon, CA
  7. 2.2 12km N of Indio, CA
  8. 1.5 24km S of Twentynine Palms, CA
  9. 2.0 12km N of Indio, CA
  10. 1.5 8km SSE of Big Bear City, CA
  11. 1.9 10km E of Desert Hot Springs, CA
  12. 2.1 7km SE of Big Bear City, CA
  13. 1.5 35km N of Yucca Valley, CA
  14. 1.5 7km NNE of Banning, CA
  15. 1.6 24km N of Yucca Valley, 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.