QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Oceanside, CA

USGS: 40 km WSW of Carlsbad, California

44 km (27 mi) WSW of Encinitas, CA · 133 km (82 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA

7:46 pm PDT, May 2, 2017 · · 18 km deep · released about 14 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Oceanside Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 78 kmSan Diego County 89 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
7:46 pm PDT on 2 May 2017 ()
Where
41 km (25 mi) SW of Oceanside, CA · earthquakes near Oceanside
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 78 km N
Nearest mapped fault
San Diego Trough fault, 7 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 3426 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 41 km (25 mi) SW of Oceanside, CA, at 7:46 pm PDT on 2 May 2017 (02:46 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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

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

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.5 The 1986 Oceanside, California Earthquake · 14 km W 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 32.9712, -117.7263. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 78 km (49 mi) N earthquakes near Orange County
San Diego County, CA 89 km (55 mi) E earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 33km WSW of Coronado, CA
  2. 2.1 26km SW of Carlsbad, CA
  3. 2.1 21km NE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  4. 1.8 21km SW of Dana Point, CA
  5. 1.6 17km SW of La Jolla, CA
  6. 1.6 30km ESE of Avalon, CA
  7. 3.1 34km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  8. 1.8 33km W of La Jolla, CA
  9. 1.8 40km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  10. 2.1 39km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  11. 1.5 37km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  12. 2.1 41km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  13. 2.2 48km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  14. 1.9 43km SE of Avalon, CA
  15. 1.6 47km SSW of San Clemente, 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.