Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9ml
Earthquake near Julian, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Julian in the 24 hours to 3:53 am PST (11:53 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 151 km (94 mi) ESE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Julian
This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) east-southeast of Julian, CA, at 5:03 pm PST on 12 February 2020 (01:03 UTC), 11 km deep. 16 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 24km ESE of Julian, CA
76 km (47 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 5:03 pm PST on 12 February 2020 ()
- Where
- 24 km (15 mi) east-southeast of Julian, CA · earthquakes near Julian
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 16 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 39 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore 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 1857 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Julian, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Julian, CA. No account or email needed.
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 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 29 km (18 mi) from the epicentre. In Julian, 24 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.
Likely felt in: Julian 24 km, intensity II · Pine Valley 26 km, intensity II · Borrego Springs 28 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 630 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 24,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 17,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 630 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 2,900 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 31 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 47 km E of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 41 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 45 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 32 km NE 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 33.0078, -116.3588. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 94 km (58 mi) | E | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 12km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.9 26km NW of Ocotillo, CA
- 1.5 10km WSW of Salton City, CA
- 2.1 14km SW of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.9 14km SW of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.7 3km SW of Ocotillo, CA
- 1.6 22km NNE of Ocotillo, CA
- 1.6 11km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 2.3 5km SW of Salton City, CA
- 1.5 4km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 2.0 2km ESE of Lake Henshaw, CA
- 1.6 18km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.6 13km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.5 2km ESE of Lake Henshaw, CA
- 1.8 11km ENE 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
- 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.