QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

Earthquake near Cabazon, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Cabazon in the 24 hours to 3:10 am PST (11:10 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 2.1 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) east of Cabazon, CA, at 5:38 pm PST on 19 February 2020 (01:38 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 7km E of Cabazon, CA

23 km (14 mi) E of Beaumont, CA · 128 km (80 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

5:38 pm PST, Feb 19, 2020 · · 17 km deep · released about 38 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cabazon Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 68 kmSan Diego County 99 kmOrange County 102 kmSan Bernardino County 116 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
5:38 pm PST on 19 February 2020 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) east of Cabazon, CA · earthquakes near Cabazon
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 68 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Gorgonio Pass fault, 4 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 2457 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 2 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Cabazon, 7 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: Banning, Palm Springs, Idyllwild-Pine Cove, Morongo Valley, Idyllwild, Desert Hot Springs.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 38 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 390,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 25× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 38 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 4,300 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 34 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 41 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 29 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 34 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 37 km E of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 36 km ENE 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 33.9122, -116.7102. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 68 km (43 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 99 km (62 mi) S earthquakes near San Diego County
Orange County, CA 102 km (63 mi) WSW earthquakes near Orange County
San Bernardino County, CA 116 km (72 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

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

  1. 2.3 16km ESE of Anza, CA
  2. 2.1 17km ESE of Anza, CA
  3. 2.1 16km ESE of Anza, CA
  4. 2.6 17km ESE of Anza, CA
  5. 2.5 16km ESE of Anza, CA
  6. 2.0 17km ESE of Anza, CA
  7. 2.1 17km ESE of Anza, CA
  8. 2.4 18km ESE of Anza, CA
  9. 2.4 18km ESE of Anza, CA
  10. 2.5 16km ESE of Anza, CA
  11. 1.6 8km SE of Yucca Valley, CA
  12. 1.7 6km SW of Idyllwild, CA
  13. 2.4 7km ENE of Yucaipa, CA
  14. 1.8 13km W of Anza, CA
  15. 1.7 8km SSW of Idyllwild, 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.