Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Escondido, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Escondido in the 24 hours to 3:54 am PST (11:54 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 51 km (32 mi) NE, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Escondido
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 38 km (24 mi) northeast of Escondido, CA, at 10:46 am PDT on 23 April 2017 (17:46 UTC), 14 km deep.
USGS: 8km E of Palomar Observatory, CA
68 km (42 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA · 36 km (22 mi) NE of Escondido, CA
- When
- 10:46 am PDT on 23 April 2017 ()
- Where
- 38 km (24 mi) northeast of Escondido, CA · earthquakes near Escondido
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 36 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore 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 3467 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Escondido, CA
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Escondido, 38 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Aguanga, Anza, Valley Center.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 16 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 970,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 61× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 5.2 on 2016-06-10 — about 120,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 50 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 49 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 1km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA · 40 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.4 20km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA · 29 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.3 6km SSE of Hemet, CA · 43 km NNW 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 33.3437, -116.7782. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 36 km (22 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 12km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.3 8km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.1 10km NNW of Anza, CA
- 2.7 10km NNW of Anza, CA
- 1.9 10km NNW of Anza, CA
- 2.3 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.6 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.0 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.7 10km NNW of Anza, CA
- 1.5 10km NNW of Anza, CA
- 2.0 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.2 7km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.1 5km SW of Idyllwild, CA
- 2.1 8km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.4 7km SE of Julian, 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.