QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

34km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA

Yes. A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 34km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA, 88 km (54 mi) WSW of San Diego, CA, at 9:30 am PST on 5 January 2019 (17:30 UTC), 5.8 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

88 km (54 mi) WSW of San Diego, CA

· 5.8 km deep · released about 1,600 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 118 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
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
5.8 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Orange County, 118 km NNE
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 2806 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 43 km (27 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,600 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,600 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× 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

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

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 11km NNE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA · 39 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 The 1986 Oceanside, California Earthquake · 40 km NNE 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 32.6413, -118.0498. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 118 km (73 mi) NNE earthquakes near Orange County
San Diego County, CA 126 km (79 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

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

  1. 2.1 39km WSW of Encinitas, CA
  2. 2.7 43km WSW of Encinitas, CA
  3. 2.9 45km SSE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  4. 1.7 46km WSW of Coronado, CA
  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. 1.6 31km W of La Jolla, CA
  12. 1.8 39km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  13. 1.9 68km WSW of Coronado, CA
  14. 2.2 59km WSW of Coronado, CA
  15. 1.8 48km SSW of San Clemente, 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.