Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Cabazon, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Cabazon in the 24 hours to 10:12 pm PST (06:12 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 20 km (13 mi) SW, at 8:30 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 87 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Cabazon
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) northeast of Cabazon, CA, at 7:45 am PST on 21 December 2016 (15:45 UTC), 16 km deep.
USGS: 8km NE of Cabazon, CA
24 km (15 mi) ENE of Beaumont, CA · 134 km (83 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 7:45 am PST on 21 December 2016 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) northeast of Cabazon, CA · earthquakes near Cabazon
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 16 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 72 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Gorgonio Pass fault, 2 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 3563 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Cabazon, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Cabazon, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Cabazon, 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Banning, Morongo Valley, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, Garnet, Cherry Valley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 51 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 51 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 2,300 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 37 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 37 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 33 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 28 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 37 km E of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 36 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 33.9707, -116.7217. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| San Diego County, CA | 105 km (66 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 110 km (69 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 18km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 2.0 8km NNW of Cabazon, CA
- 2.0 11km WSW of Morongo Valley, CA
- 2.0 5km S of Loma Linda, CA
- 2.9 14km N of Cabazon, CA
- 1.9 14km N of Cabazon, CA
- 2.3 5km SE of Loma Linda, CA
- 1.8 13km NE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 2.2 9km NE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 2.5 4km S of Banning, CA
- 1.6 19km N of Indio, CA
- 1.9 19km N of Indio, CA
- 1.7 4km N of Cabazon, CA
- 2.4 7km S of Idyllwild, CA
- 1.7 10km NNW of Big Bear Lake, 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.