Earthquake near Julian, CA

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 40 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Julian, 8 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: Julian 8 km, intensity III · San Diego Country Estates 19 km, intensity III · Ramona 22 km, intensity II · Borrego Springs 29 km, intensity II · Alpine 35 km, intensity II · Pine Valley 37 km, intensity II · Aguanga 39 km, intensity II · Escondido 40 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 280,000× the energy of this one
2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,800× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,200 lb of TNT
5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.3× more

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 1,500 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 48 km NE of this epicentre Mar 25, 1937
2. 5.5 1km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA · 31 km ENE of this epicentre Apr 28, 1969
3. 5.4 20km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA · 36 km NNE of this epicentre Jul 7, 2010
4. 5.3 18km ESE of Anza, CA · 41 km NNE of this epicentre Feb 25, 1980
5. 5.2 10km ESE of Anza, CA · 45 km N of this epicentre Jun 12, 2005

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 33.1342, -116.6557. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.9 8km NE of Aguanga, CA 02:08 UTC
2. 2.7 2km SSE of Lake Henshaw, CA 05:17 UTC
3. 1.8 8km NE of Aguanga, CA 01:49 UTC
4. 2.1 2km SSE of Lake Henshaw, CA 00:52 UTC
5. 1.9 22km ESE of Anza, CA 20:09 UTC
6. 2.2 4km NNW of Julian, CA 07:22 UTC
7. 1.7 20km SW of La Quinta, CA 06:35 UTC
8. 1.5 22km ESE of Anza, CA 12:55 UTC
9. 1.5 9km NE of Aguanga, CA 01:57 UTC
10. 1.8 9km NE of Aguanga, CA 01:38 UTC
11. 2.2 2km WSW of Lake Henshaw, CA 14:17 UTC
12. 1.6 20km ESE of Julian, CA 05:23 UTC
13. 2.0 8km NE of Aguanga, CA 13:13 UTC
14. 1.6 19km ESE of Anza, CA 04:23 UTC
15. 2.4 19km ESE of Anza, CA 04:22 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 07:46 UTC. 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.