Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.6ml
Earthquake near Lake Arrowhead, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Lake Arrowhead in the 24 hours to 11:04 pm PST (07:04 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 11 km (7 mi) SSW, at 3:40 pm PDT on 22 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lake Arrowhead
This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) north-northeast of Lake Arrowhead, CA, at 6:35 pm PST on 3 January 2017 (02:35 UTC), 1.8 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 10km NNE of Lake Arrowhead, CA
15 km (10 mi) ESE of Hesperia, CA · 120 km (75 mi) ENE of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 6:35 pm PST on 3 January 2017 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) north-northeast of Lake Arrowhead, CA · earthquakes near Lake Arrowhead
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 1.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- 3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Orange County, 93 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Cleghorn fault, 5 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 Lake Arrowhead, CA
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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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 23 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Lake Arrowhead, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Lake Arrowhead 10 km, intensity III · Hesperia 16 km, intensity II · Apple Valley 18 km, intensity II · Lucerne Valley 22 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 220 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 68,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 48,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.3× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 220 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 520 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 34 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 29 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 7km ENE of Running Springs, CA · 16 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 11km SSE of Big Bear Lake, California · 35 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.3 Near San Bernardino, California · 16 km SSE 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 34.3373, -117.1642. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 102 km (63 mi) | W | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| Riverside County, CA | 127 km (79 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 9km NNE of Banning, CA
- 1.7 17km NNE of Apple Valley, CA
- 2.5 6km NNE of Lytle Creek, CA
- 1.9 1km SE of Fontana, CA
- 1.9 4km NW of Beaumont, CA
- 2.0 4km ESE of Yucaipa, CA
- 1.6 7km WSW of Wrightwood, CA
- 1.7 1km SSE of Loma Linda, CA
- 3.1 5km NE of Yucaipa, CA
- 1.6 10km NNW of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.7 7km SSW of Redlands, CA
- 1.7 4km W of Calimesa, CA
- 1.8 12km S of Big Bear Lake, CA
- 1.7 3km SE of Loma Linda, CA
- 2.5 14km S 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.