Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Julian, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Julian in the 24 hours to 5:33 am PST (13:33 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 151 km (94 mi) ESE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Julian
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) west of Julian, CA, at 5:23 pm PDT on 17 September 2018 (00:23 UTC), 14 km deep.
USGS: 4km W of Julian, CA
55 km (34 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA · 41 km (25 mi) E of Escondido, CA
- When
- 5:23 pm PDT on 17 September 2018 ()
- Where
- 4 km (2 mi) west of Julian, CA · earthquakes near Julian
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 14 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore fault, 8 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 2942 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Julian, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Julian, CA. No account or email needed.
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 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 Julian, 4 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: San Diego Country Estates, Ramona, Descanso.
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 5.8 930,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 660,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 59× 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 110,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.5 1km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA · 32 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.4 20km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA · 40 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.3 18km ESE of Anza, CA · 45 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 16 km NW of Julian, California · 14 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 26km NE of Pine Valley, CA · 33 km ESE 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 33.0847, -116.6408. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 14 km (9 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 120 km (74 mi) | E | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Orange County, CA | 124 km (77 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Orange 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.
- 1.6 12km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.0 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.9 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.5 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.0 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.8 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.5 8km NW of Julian, CA
- 2.0 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 3.3 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.6 5km WSW of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.8 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.0 8km ENE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.6 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.6 8km ENE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.9 7km ENE of Aguanga, 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.