QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8ml

Earthquake near Banning, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Banning in the 24 hours to 8:29 pm PST (04:29 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 15 km (10 mi) SSW, at 8:30 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 87 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Banning

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) north of Banning, CA, at 10:08 pm PDT on 13 March 2017 (05:08 UTC), 8.6 km deep. 37 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 12km N of Banning, CA

16 km (10 mi) E of Yucaipa, CA · 142 km (88 mi) E of Los Angeles, CA

10:08 pm PDT, Mar 13, 2017 · · 8.6 km deep · released about 480 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 87 kmOrange County 93 kmSan Bernardino County 111 kmSan Diego County 113 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
10:08 pm PDT on 13 March 2017 ()
Where
12 km (8 mi) north of Banning, CA · earthquakes near Banning
Magnitude
M 2.8 (ml)
Depth
8.6 km below the surface
Felt
37 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Riverside County, 87 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, under 1 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 3172 days ago

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 26 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Banning, 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.

Likely felt in: Banning 12 km, intensity II · Beaumont 15 km, intensity II · Yucaipa 16 km, intensity II · Big Bear Lake 23 km, intensity II · Mentone 24 km, intensity II · Big Bear City 25 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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 240 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 31 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 44 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 32 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 19 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 36 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 25 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 34.0368, -116.8722. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 87 km (54 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
Orange County, CA 93 km (58 mi) WSW earthquakes near Orange County
San Bernardino County, CA 111 km (69 mi) NE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
San Diego County, CA 113 km (70 mi) S earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 2 km SE of Loma Linda, California
  2. 1.8 7 km S of Mountain Center, California
  3. 1.6 3 km SSW of Mountain Center, California
  4. 1.9 8 km SSE of Mountain Center, California
  5. 2.3 1 km NE of Loma Linda, California
  6. 3.0 2 km W of San Bernardino, California
  7. 2.2 8 km ESE of Oak Glen, California
  8. 2.1 0 km WNW of Cherry Valley, California
  9. 1.8 6km ESE of Valle Vista, CA
  10. 1.9 8km ESE of Yucaipa, CA
  11. 1.9 5km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  12. 1.9 10km NNW of Big Bear City, CA
  13. 2.1 2km SE of Big Bear City, CA
  14. 2.5 2km SE of Loma Linda, CA
  15. 3.1 2km SSE of Big Bear City, 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.