QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4ml

Earthquake near Cabazon, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Cabazon in the 24 hours to 6:13 am PST (14:13 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 20 km (13 mi) SW, at 8:30 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 87 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Cabazon

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) north-northeast of Cabazon, CA, at 5:18 pm PDT on 3 September 2019 (00:18 UTC), 13 km deep. 117 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 10km NNE of Cabazon, CA

23 km (14 mi) NE of Beaumont, CA · 137 km (85 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

5:18 pm PDT, Sep 3, 2019 · · 13 km deep · released about 2 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Cabazon Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 77 kmOrange County 100 kmSan Bernardino County 109 kmSan Diego County 109 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
5:18 pm PDT on 3 September 2019 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) north-northeast of Cabazon, CA · earthquakes near Cabazon
Magnitude
M 3.4 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
117 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Riverside County, 77 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 5 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 2413 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 57 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In Cabazon, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Banning 14 km, intensity III · Morongo Valley 18 km, intensity III · Beaumont 21 km, intensity II · Desert Hot Springs 25 km, intensity II · Yucaipa 26 km, intensity II · Palm Springs 28 km, intensity II · Big Bear City 29 km, intensity II · Big Bear Lake 30 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 86,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4.1× more

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 42 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 38 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 37 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 33 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 23 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 47 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 42 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 34.0057, -116.7643. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 77 km (48 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
Orange County, CA 100 km (62 mi) WSW earthquakes near Orange County
San Bernardino County, CA 109 km (68 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
San Diego County, CA 109 km (68 mi) S earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 1km SW of Calimesa, CA
  2. 1.6 10km NNW of Big Bear City, CA
  3. 1.9 11km NW of Big Bear Lake, CA
  4. 2.0 8km NNW of Cabazon, CA
  5. 1.6 9km SE of Valle Vista, CA
  6. 2.5 9km NW of Garnet, CA
  7. 2.1 10km S of Idyllwild, CA
  8. 2.0 9km NW of Garnet, CA
  9. 1.9 7km NNE of Anza, CA
  10. 2.4 4km WSW of Morongo Valley, CA
  11. 1.8 6km N of Beaumont, CA
  12. 1.6 13km WNW of Anza, CA
  13. 1.9 3km NE of San Jacinto, CA
  14. 1.5 10km ENE of Yucaipa, CA
  15. 1.7 11km SE of Lucerne Valley, 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.