QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near San Bernardino, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in San Bernardino in the 24 hours to 12:00 pm PST (20:00 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 9 km (6 mi) SSE, at 10:40 am PDT on 31 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near San Bernardino

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 2 km (2 mi) west of San Bernardino, CA, at 2:15 am PST on 28 January 2019 (10:15 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 3km SW of San Bernardino, CA

in San Bernardino, CA

2:15 am PST, Jan 28, 2019 · · 18 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 64 kmLos Angeles County 88 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
2:15 am PST on 28 January 2019 ()
Where
2 km (2 mi) west of San Bernardino, CA · earthquakes near San Bernardino
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 64 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
San Jacinto 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 2845 days ago

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 San Bernardino, 2 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: Colton, Rialto, Muscoy, Grand Terrace, Loma Linda, Bloomington.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 12,000 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. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 50 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 46 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 6 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 46 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 7km ENE of Running Springs, CA · 29 km ENE 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 34.1078, -117.3163. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 64 km (40 mi) SW earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 88 km (54 mi) W earthquakes near Los Angeles County
San Bernardino County, CA 133 km (83 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

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

  1. 2.1 4km SW of Fontana, CA
  2. 1.6 4km SE of Home Gardens, CA
  3. 2.0 4km SW of Fontana, CA
  4. 2.1 4km SW of Fontana, CA
  5. 2.2 5km SW of Fontana, CA
  6. 2.9 4km SW of Fontana, CA
  7. 1.5 2km S of Lytle Creek, CA
  8. 1.7 4km SW of Fontana, CA
  9. 1.9 4km SW of Fontana, CA
  10. 1.8 4km SW of Fontana, CA
  11. 2.0 5km SE of Loma Linda, CA
  12. 1.8 2km SSE of Lytle Creek, CA
  13. 2.7 4km NW of San Jacinto, CA
  14. 2.0 5km S of Redlands, CA
  15. 2.2 9km SW of Corona, 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.