Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Beaumont, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Beaumont in the 24 hours to 4:52 am PST (12:52 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 14 km (8 mi) S, at 8:30 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 87 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Beaumont
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) northeast of Beaumont, CA, at 1:39 pm PST on 16 January 2019 (21:39 UTC), 17 km deep.
USGS: 6km NE of Beaumont, CA
11 km (7 mi) N of Beaumont, CA · 136 km (85 mi) E of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 1:39 pm PST on 16 January 2019 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) northeast of Beaumont, CA · earthquakes near Beaumont
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 17 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Orange County, 85 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Gorgonio Pass 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 2856 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Beaumont, CA
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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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Beaumont, 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Cherry Valley, Banning, Yucaipa, Calimesa, Cabazon, San Jacinto.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 38 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 390,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 280,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 25× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 38 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 4.5 on 2018-05-08 — about 4,300 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 23 km S of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 28 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 33 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 30 km E of this epicentre
- 5.6 7km ENE of Running Springs, CA · 32 km NNW 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 33.9700, -116.9328. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Riverside County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 120 km (75 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Bernardino 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.
- 1.9 2km NW of Cabazon, CA
- 2.0 5km SE of Loma Linda, CA
- 2.7 4km NW of San Jacinto, CA
- 2.0 5km S of Redlands, CA
- 1.7 6km NNW of Moreno Valley, CA
- 2.4 2km E of Loma Linda, CA
- 1.5 14km N of Banning, CA
- 2.7 6km NNW of Moreno Valley, CA
- 1.9 6km NE of Cabazon, CA
- 1.6 8km SSE of Idyllwild, CA
- 2.4 1km NE of Loma Linda, CA
- 2.4 8km ESE of Lucerne Valley, CA
- 2.6 6km N of Moreno Valley, CA
- 1.6 9km NNE of Yucaipa, CA
- 1.8 5km E 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
- 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.