Earthquake near Apple Valley, CA

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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Apple Valley, 11 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: Apple Valley 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 17 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 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 4.3 on 2016-02-20 — about 5,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 45 km SSE of this epicentre Jun 28, 1992
2. 5.6 7km ENE of Running Springs, CA · 35 km S of this epicentre Oct 16, 1999
3. 5.5 11km SSE of Big Bear Lake, California · 48 km SSE of this epicentre Jun 28, 1992
4. 5.3 Near San Bernardino, California · 39 km S of this epicentre Sep 20, 1907
5. 5.3 6km WNW of Big Bear Lake, CA · 33 km SSE of this epicentre Aug 29, 1943

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 34.5488, -117.0832. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 2.4 6km N of Big Bear City, CA 21:40 UTC
2. 1.6 6km NE of San Bernardino, CA 03:49 UTC
3. 2.9 6km NE of San Bernardino, CA 07:35 UTC
4. 2.1 6km NE of San Bernardino, CA 02:12 UTC
5. 2.5 2km NW of Big Bear City, CA 15:13 UTC
6. 1.6 9km NNW of Big Bear Lake, CA 20:07 UTC
7. 1.7 9km ESE of Big Bear City, CA 20:23 UTC
8. 2.2 34km NE of Lucerne Valley, CA 08:38 UTC
9. 1.7 13km NNE of Yucaipa, CA 05:53 UTC
10. 2.5 10km N of Lytle Creek, CA 15:38 UTC
11. 1.5 6km N of Big Bear City, CA 04:42 UTC
12. 1.7 14km SW of Lucerne Valley, CA 15:15 UTC
13. 2.6 6km ENE of Lake Arrowhead, CA 18:52 UTC
14. 1.9 6km ENE of Lake Arrowhead, CA 02:26 UTC
15. 1.5 6km NE of Lake Arrowhead, CA 00:25 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 12:17 UTC. 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.