QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Big Bear Lake, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Big Bear Lake in the 24 hours to 3:25 am PST (11:25 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 7 km (4 mi) NE, at 1:40 am PDT on 6 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 18 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Big Bear Lake

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Big Bear Lake, CA, at 6:30 pm PST on 11 December 2016 (02:30 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 6km SSE of Big Bear Lake, CA

23 km (14 mi) NE of Yucaipa, CA · 141 km (88 mi) E of Los Angeles, CA

6:30 pm PST, Dec 11, 2016 · · 11 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Big Bear Lake Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 97 kmSan Bernardino County 98 kmOrange County 100 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
6:30 pm PST on 11 December 2016 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Big Bear Lake, CA · earthquakes near Big Bear Lake
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 97 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 12 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 3564 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Bear Lake, 6 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: Big Bear Lake 6 km, intensity II · Big Bear City 9 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.4 on 2016-01-06 — about 7,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 30 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 42 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 49 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 6 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 36 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 34 km SE 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 34.1942, -116.8898. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 97 km (60 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Bernardino County, CA 98 km (61 mi) NE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
Orange County, CA 100 km (62 mi) SW earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 12km SW of Big Bear Lake, CA
  2. 1.6 12km S of Big Bear Lake, CA
  3. 1.9 5km E of Calimesa, CA
  4. 1.5 3km NE of San Jacinto, CA
  5. 1.6 4km S of Devore, CA
  6. 1.5 7km NNE of Moreno Valley, CA
  7. 2.0 8km NNW of Cabazon, CA
  8. 1.7 10km SSW of Lucerne Valley, CA
  9. 2.0 11km WSW of Morongo Valley, CA
  10. 2.0 5km S of Loma Linda, CA
  11. 2.9 14km N of Cabazon, CA
  12. 1.9 14km N of Cabazon, CA
  13. 2.3 5km SE of Loma Linda, CA
  14. 1.6 40km NE of Big Bear City, CA
  15. 1.7 40km 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.