Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Banning, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Banning in the 24 hours to 5:45 am PST (13:45 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 15 km (10 mi) SSW, at 8:30 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 87 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Banning
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) north-northeast of Banning, CA, at 8:03 pm PST on 21 December 2019 (04:03 UTC), 13 km deep.
USGS: 8 km NNE of Banning, CA
16 km (10 mi) NE of Beaumont, CA · 144 km (90 mi) E of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 8:03 pm PST on 21 December 2019 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) north-northeast of Banning, CA · earthquakes near Banning
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 83 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 2 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 360 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Banning, CA
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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 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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Banning, 8 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: Cabazon, Cherry Valley, Beaumont, Yucaipa, Calimesa, Morongo Valley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 4.5 on 2018-05-08 — about 11,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 34 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 44 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 28 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 24 km N of this epicentre
- 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 49 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 33.9917, -116.8437. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 83 km (52 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| San Diego County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 114 km (71 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 8km SE of Valle Vista, CA
- 2.1 13 km WNW of Anza, CA
- 1.6 13km NNE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 2.2 13km NE of Yucaipa, CA
- 2.1 7km E of Cabazon, CA
- 1.5 2km SSE of Garnet, CA
- 1.9 14km S of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.8 2km NNW of Beaumont, CA
- 1.5 13km WNW of Anza, CA
- 1.5 6km NE of Anza, CA
- 2.8 14km W of Anza, CA
- 1.8 8km NNW of Big Bear City, CA
- 2.0 1km SSE of Colton, CA
- 1.6 5km SSW of Banning, CA
- 2.4 13km WNW of Anza, 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.