Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Morongo Valley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Morongo Valley in the 24 hours to 10:15 pm PST (06:15 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 72 km (44 mi) S, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Morongo Valley
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) southwest of Morongo Valley, CA, at 1:59 am PDT on 31 July 2017 (08:59 UTC), 16 km deep.
USGS: 12km SW of Morongo Valley, CA
24 km (15 mi) NW of Cathedral City, CA · 136 km (84 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 1:59 am PDT on 31 July 2017 ()
- Where
- 12 km (7 mi) southwest of Morongo Valley, CA · earthquakes near Morongo Valley
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 16 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 67 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 3 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 3303 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Morongo Valley, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Morongo Valley, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Morongo Valley, 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: Cabazon, Desert Hot Springs, Garnet, Palm Springs, Banning, Desert Edge.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 11,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 38 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 33 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 36 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 30 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 33 km E of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 31 km E 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 33.9715, -116.6700. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 67 km (42 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Orange County, CA | 107 km (67 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 108 km (67 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
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 14km S of Joshua Tree, CA
- 1.6 2km SSE of Redlands, CA
- 1.7 2km SE of Redlands, CA
- 1.5 3km SW of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.6 18km SSE of Joshua Tree, CA
- 1.5 5km S of Redlands, CA
- 2.3 27km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.9 5km S of Idyllwild, CA
- 1.6 5km WSW of Anza, CA
- 2.1 6km WSW of Anza, CA
- 1.6 5km WSW of Anza, CA
- 2.6 8km NNW of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.7 11km NE of Running Springs, CA
- 2.6 9km E of Running Springs, CA
- 1.8 6km NE of Yucaipa, 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.