Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.4mw
Earthquake near Aguanga, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Aguanga in the 24 hours to 3:34 am PST (11:34 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 20 km (12 mi) ESE, at 10:44 pm PST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 7 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Aguanga
This page: a magnitude 4.4 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) northeast of Aguanga, CA, at 6:24 pm PDT on 14 August 2018 (01:24 UTC), 1.9 km deep. 4,333 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 7km NE of Aguanga, CA
80 km (50 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA · 31 km (19 mi) E of Temecula, CA
- When
- 6:24 pm PDT on 14 August 2018 ()
- Where
- 7 km (4 mi) northeast of Aguanga, CA · earthquakes near Aguanga
- Magnitude
- M 4.4 (mw)
- Depth
- 1.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 4,333 reports · strongest reported intensity V
- Measured shaking
- intensity VI (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 50 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore fault, 14 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 253 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Aguanga, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Aguanga, 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 light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 131 km (81 mi) from the epicentre. In Aguanga, 7 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: Aguanga 7 km, intensity IV · Anza 15 km, intensity IV · Idyllwild 30 km, intensity III · Valle Vista 31 km, intensity III · Temecula 32 km, intensity III · Hemet 34 km, intensity III · San Jacinto 37 km, intensity III · Murrieta 39 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 62 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 2,700× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 120× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 86× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.4 about 62 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 130× more
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 5.2 on 2016-06-10 — about 15 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 35 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 1km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA · 48 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.4 20km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA · 31 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.3 6km SSE of Hemet, CA · 28 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.3 18km ESE of Anza, CA · 28 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 33.4772, -116.8033. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.7 8km ENE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.2 8km ENE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.9 9km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.0 11km N of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.5 13km SE of Anza, CA
- 1.7 8km ENE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.5 9km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.5 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.9 9km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.5 18km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.7 9km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.6 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.6 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.9 8km NE of Aguanga, 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.