QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Lucerne Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Lucerne Valley in the 24 hours to 11:03 pm PST (07:03 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 19 km (12 mi) SSE, at 1:40 am PDT on 6 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 18 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lucerne Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) southeast of Lucerne Valley, CA, at 11:24 pm PST on 18 January 2018 (07:24 UTC), 4.8 km deep.

USGS: 11km SE of Lucerne Valley, CA

35 km (22 mi) ESE of Apple Valley, CA · 145 km (90 mi) ENE of Los Angeles, CA

11:24 pm PST, Jan 18, 2018 · · 4.8 km deep · released about 6.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Lucerne Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Bernardino County 85 kmRiverside County 108 kmOrange County 112 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
11:24 pm PST on 18 January 2018 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) southeast of Lucerne Valley, CA · earthquakes near Lucerne Valley
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
4.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Bernardino County, 85 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Helendale-South Lockhart 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 3219 days ago

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 Lucerne Valley, 11 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: Big Bear City, Big Bear Lake, Running Springs.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.4 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 18,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 46 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 19 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 46 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 48 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 7km ENE of Running Springs, CA · 19 km SW 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 34.3645, -116.8928. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Bernardino County, CA 85 km (53 mi) NE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
Riverside County, CA 108 km (67 mi) SE earthquakes near Riverside County
Orange County, CA 112 km (69 mi) SW earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 5km NNW of Mountain View Acres, CA
  2. 2.5 2km NE of Redlands, CA
  3. 1.9 2km NE of Redlands, CA
  4. 1.6 2km NE of Redlands, CA
  5. 1.5 10km N of Cabazon, CA
  6. 1.7 7km N of Big Bear City, CA
  7. 1.5 9km NE of Big Bear City, CA
  8. 2.3 5km SSE of Mentone, CA
  9. 1.9 11km SSE of Lucerne Valley, CA
  10. 2.6 1km SSW of Loma Linda, CA
  11. 2.6 7km NW of Big Bear Lake, CA
  12. 1.7 8km N of Big Bear City, CA
  13. 2.7 3km NNW of Beaumont, CA
  14. 1.8 16km NW of Morongo Valley, CA
  15. 1.8 6km ENE of Yucaipa, 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.