Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Escondido, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Escondido in the 24 hours to 5:42 am PST (13:42 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 51 km (32 mi) NE, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Escondido
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 34 km (21 mi) east-northeast of Escondido, CA, at 7:52 pm PST on 28 December 2019 (03:52 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 3km SE of Lake Henshaw, CA
58 km (36 mi) NE of San Diego, CA · 33 km (20 mi) ENE of Escondido, CA
- When
- 7:52 pm PST on 28 December 2019 ()
- Where
- 34 km (21 mi) east-northeast of Escondido, CA · earthquakes near Escondido
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 22 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore 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 2510 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Escondido, 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Escondido, 34 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Julian, Ramona, San Diego Country Estates, Aguanga, Valley Center.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 260,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 49 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.5 1km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA · 35 km E of this epicentre
- 5.4 20km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA · 33 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.3 18km ESE of Anza, CA · 36 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.2 10km ESE of Anza, CA · 38 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 33.2210, -116.7372. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 22 km (14 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 89 km (55 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 18km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.9 9km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.7 9km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.6 9km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.6 21km SW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.8 20km ESE of Julian, CA
- 1.9 10km SSW of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.0 3 km ESE of Lake Henshaw, CA
- 2.4 13km WNW of Anza, CA
- 1.6 13km W of Anza, CA
- 2.0 13km WNW of Anza, CA
- 1.7 13km WNW of Anza, CA
- 3.6 14km W of Anza, CA
- 1.6 8km N of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.1 3km SSW of Palomar Observatory, 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.