QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Idyllwild, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Idyllwild in the 24 hours to 3:23 am PST (11:23 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 19 km (12 mi) WNW, at 1:04 am PDT on 11 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 58 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Idyllwild

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) south-southwest of Idyllwild, CA, at 10:27 pm PDT on 23 September 2019 (05:27 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 9km SSW of Idyllwild, CA

24 km (15 mi) ESE of Hemet, CA · 101 km (63 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

10:27 pm PDT, Sep 23, 2019 · · 14 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Idyllwild Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 70 kmSan Diego County 71 kmOrange County 95 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
10:27 pm PDT on 23 September 2019 ()
Where
9 km (6 mi) south-southwest of Idyllwild, CA · earthquakes near Idyllwild
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 70 km E
Nearest mapped fault
San Jacinto fault, under 1 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 2606 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 Idyllwild, 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: Idyllwild-Pine Cove, Anza, Valle Vista, East Hemet, Hemet, San Jacinto.

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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.2 on 2016-06-10 — about 320,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 23 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 40 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 20km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA · 37 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 4km NNE of Desert Hot Springs, CA · 45 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 6km SSE of Hemet, CA · 18 km WNW 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 33.6615, -116.7505. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 70 km (43 mi) E earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 71 km (44 mi) S earthquakes near San Diego County
Orange County, CA 95 km (59 mi) W earthquakes near Orange 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. 3.0 8km W of Garnet, CA
  2. 1.6 6km SSE of Idyllwild, CA
  3. 1.8 2km NW of Cabazon, CA
  4. 1.6 3km SSE of Lake Henshaw, CA
  5. 1.7 1km SW of Calimesa, CA
  6. 2.0 8km NNW of Cabazon, CA
  7. 1.8 7km ENE of Palomar Observatory, CA
  8. 3.0 8km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA
  9. 1.6 9km SE of Valle Vista, CA
  10. 2.5 9km NW of Garnet, CA
  11. 1.6 7km NW of Aguanga, CA
  12. 2.4 8km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA
  13. 1.7 5km NNE of Pala, CA
  14. 1.8 9km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA
  15. 2.6 8km NNW of Borrego Springs, 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.