QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Trabuco Canyon, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Trabuco Canyon in the 24 hours to 3:50 pm PST (23:50 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 54 km (34 mi) SW, at 1:22 pm PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 126 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Trabuco Canyon

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) northeast of Trabuco Canyon, CA, at 7:58 pm PDT on 9 May 2020 (02:58 UTC), 9.4 km deep.

USGS: 9km NE of Trabuco Canyon, CA

88 km (55 mi) ESE of Los Angeles, CA · 15 km (10 mi) SSE of Corona, CA

7:58 pm PDT, May 9, 2020 · · 9.4 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Trabuco Canyon Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 24 kmLos Angeles County 85 kmSan Diego County 105 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
7:58 pm PDT on 9 May 2020 ()
Where
9 km (6 mi) northeast of Trabuco Canyon, CA · earthquakes near Trabuco Canyon
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
9.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 24 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Elsinore fault, 6 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 2376 days ago

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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Trabuco Canyon, 9 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: Rancho Santa Margarita, El Cerrito Corona, Coto De Caza, Home Gardens, Corona, Lake Forest.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 45 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 47 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 12 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 The 1990 Upland, California Earthquake · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 33 km NW 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 33.7270, -117.5282. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 24 km (15 mi) WSW earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 85 km (53 mi) NW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
San Diego County, CA 105 km (65 mi) SE earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 3km SE of Garden Grove, CA
  2. 1.8 2km SW of Yorba Linda, CA
  3. 1.8 3km SSW of Yorba Linda, CA
  4. 1.8 3km SW of Yorba Linda, CA
  5. 1.9 3km SW of Yorba Linda, CA
  6. 3.5 3km SW of Yorba Linda, CA
  7. 1.7 9km W of Corona, CA
  8. 1.7 5km SE of Redlands, CA
  9. 1.6 7km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
  10. 1.9 3km ESE of Loma Linda, CA
  11. 1.8 5km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
  12. 1.8 6km WSW of Huntington Beach, CA
  13. 1.6 8km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
  14. 1.6 5km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
  15. 2.8 6km SSE of Pedley, 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.