Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Highland, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Highland in the 24 hours to 3:18 am PST (11:18 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 11 km (7 mi) SSW, at 10:40 am PDT on 31 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Highland
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) northwest of Highland, CA, at 11:55 pm PST on 13 January 2018 (07:55 UTC), 3.3 km deep.
USGS: 6km NW of Highland, CA
5 km (3 mi) NE of San Bernardino, CA
- When
- 11:55 pm PST on 13 January 2018 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) northwest of Highland, CA · earthquakes near Highland
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Orange County, 73 km SW
- 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 3222 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Highland, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Highland, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Highland, 6 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: Highland 6 km, intensity II · San Bernardino 8 km, intensity II · Muscoy 9 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 22,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 39 km E of this epicentre
- 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 9 km S of this epicentre
- 5.6 7km ENE of Running Springs, CA · 21 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1990 Upland, California Earthquake · 41 km W of this epicentre
- 5.5 11km SSE of Big Bear Lake, California · 37 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 34.1680, -117.2495. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 73 km (46 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | W | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 124 km (77 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| Riverside County, CA | 125 km (78 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
43 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 3km S of Mentone, CA
- 1.5 4km N of Cabazon, CA
- 1.6 7km SSW of Lytle Creek, CA
- 1.7 6km NNE of Moreno Valley, CA
- 1.8 13km SSW of Wrightwood, CA
- 1.8 1km ENE of Banning, CA
- 1.7 3km SE of Mentone, CA
- 1.8 9km NNW of Big Bear Lake, CA
- 1.5 3km SE of Mentone, CA
- 1.6 3km E of Banning, CA
- 1.5 5km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.5 1km NE of Lytle Creek, CA
- 1.5 2km WSW of Devore, CA
- 1.6 11km NE of Big Bear City, CA
- 2.6 3km ESE of Loma Linda, 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.