Earthquake near San Diego, CA

USGS: 3km ENE of San Ysidro, CA

30 km (19 mi) SSE of San Diego, CA · 7 km (4 mi) S of Chula Vista, CA

1:57 pm PST, Feb 12, 2018 · 2018-02-12 21:57 UTC · -0.4 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

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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: 1:57 pm PST on 12 February 2018 (2018-02-12 21:57 UTC)
Where: 22 km (14 mi) SE of San Diego, CA · earthquakes near San Diego
Magnitude: M 1.6 (ml)
Depth: -0.4 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: San Diego County, 56 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault: Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon fault, 11 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3146 days ago · we first saw it 3146 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) SE of San Diego, CA, at 1:57 pm PST on 12 February 2018 (21:57 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Imperial Beach, Bonita, Chula Vista, National City, La Presa, Lemon Grove.

USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA	56 km (35 mi)	NNE	earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1.6 16km SW of La Jolla, CA 03:06 UTC
1.5 5km SE of Chula Vista, CA 19:10 UTC
1.8 7km NNW of Lakeside, CA 21:58 UTC
1.5 7km SE of Bonita, CA 22:24 UTC
1.5 7km SE of Bonita, CA 21:50 UTC
2.4 11km W of Pine Valley, CA 21:50 UTC
1.6 6km SE of Bonita, CA 20:54 UTC
1.6 33km WSW of Coronado, CA 09:58 UTC
2.0 23km NE of Primo Tapia, B.C., MX 09:22 UTC
1.6 6km ESE of Chula Vista, CA 23:39 UTC
1.6 17km SW of La Jolla, CA 07:07 UTC
1.6 5km W of Chula Vista, CA 03:14 UTC
1.9 13km WSW of Coronado, CA 15:59 UTC
1.6 4km NNE of Imperial Beach, CA 21:36 UTC
1.8 10km SSW of San Diego Country Estates, CA 00:38 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 02:46 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.