QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

42km ESE of Avalon, CA

· 15 km deep · released about 51 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 61 kmSan Diego County 110 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
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 61 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2985 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. 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.

Where

Epicentre 33.1440, -117.9477. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Orange County, CA 61 km (38 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Orange County
San Diego County, CA 110 km (68 mi) W of here earthquakes near San Diego County
Los Angeles County, CA 121 km (75 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Los Angeles County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 41km WSW of Camp Pendleton South, CA
  2. 2.2 41km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  3. 1.6 45km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  4. 1.6 40km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  5. 2.5 45km ENE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  6. 1.8 39km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  7. 1.9 9km SW of Newport Beach, CA
  8. 2.1 26km SW of Carlsbad, CA
  9. 2.1 21km NE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  10. 1.8 21km SW of Dana Point, CA
  11. 1.6 30km ESE of Avalon, CA
  12. 1.8 33km W of La Jolla, CA
  13. 1.8 40km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  14. 2.1 39km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  15. 2.4 16km NNE of Avalon, 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.