QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Escondido, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Escondido in the 24 hours to 12:06 pm PST (20:06 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 36 km (22 mi) east-northeast of Escondido, CA, at 4:42 pm PDT on 29 August 2019 (23:42 UTC), 12 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 4km ESE of Lake Henshaw, CA

59 km (37 mi) NE of San Diego, CA · 34 km (21 mi) ENE of Escondido, CA

4:42 pm PDT, Aug 29, 2019 · · 12 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 23 kmRiverside County 87 kmOrange County 110 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
4:42 pm PDT on 29 August 2019 ()
Where
36 km (22 mi) east-northeast of Escondido, CA · earthquakes near Escondido
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Diego County, 23 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Elsinore fault, 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2632 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 Escondido, 36 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 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 86× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 170,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 48 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 1km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA · 34 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 20km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA · 32 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 18km ESE of Anza, CA · 35 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 10km ESE of Anza, CA · 37 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 33.2218, -116.7225. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA 23 km (14 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Diego County
Riverside County, CA 87 km (54 mi) NE earthquakes near Riverside County
Orange County, CA 110 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

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

  1. 1.7 23km ESE of Anza, CA
  2. 1.5 9km E of Julian, CA
  3. 1.9 12km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
  4. 1.8 12km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
  5. 1.6 3km SSE of Lake Henshaw, CA
  6. 1.6 12km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA
  7. 1.6 7km NW of Borrego Springs, CA
  8. 1.6 13km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA
  9. 2.0 12km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA
  10. 1.8 7km ENE of Palomar Observatory, CA
  11. 3.0 8km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA
  12. 1.6 11km NE of Julian, CA
  13. 1.6 7km NW of Aguanga, CA
  14. 2.4 9km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA
  15. 2.4 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.