QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

46km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA

82 km (51 mi) WSW of San Diego, CA

· 5.9 km deep · released about 23 lb of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N
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
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
5.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Diego County, 122 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
San Clemente fault, 5 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 2828 days ago

A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 46km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA at 10:28 UTC on 2018-12-27. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 23 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 660,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 470,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 42× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 23 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 lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.5 The 1986 Oceanside, California Earthquake · 46 km N 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 32.5652, -117.9648. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA 122 km (76 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 43km WSW of Encinitas, CA
  2. 2.9 45km SSE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  3. 1.7 46km WSW of Coronado, CA
  4. 2.5 61km WSW of Rosarito, B.C., MX
  5. 1.9 30km WSW of La Jolla, CA
  6. 1.8 49km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  7. 2.4 30km WSW of La Jolla, CA
  8. 1.8 30km WSW of La Jolla, CA
  9. 2.6 38km WSW of Encinitas, CA
  10. 1.8 31km W of La Jolla, CA
  11. 2.0 62km W of Rosarito, B.C., MX
  12. 1.6 31km W of La Jolla, CA
  13. 1.9 68km WSW of Coronado, CA
  14. 2.2 59km WSW of Coronado, CA
  15. 3.0 45km S of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), 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.