Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Hemet, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Hemet in the 24 hours to 7:23 am PST (15:23 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 7 km (4 mi) N, at 8:52 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Hemet
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) south-southeast of Hemet, CA, at 11:00 pm PST on 14 December 2019 (07:00 UTC), 5.2 km deep.
USGS: 8km SSE of Hemet, CA
7 km (5 mi) SE of Hemet, CA · 140 km (87 mi) ESE of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 11:00 pm PST on 14 December 2019 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) south-southeast of Hemet, CA · earthquakes near Hemet
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 75 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Jacinto fault, 7 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 2523 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hemet, CA
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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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Hemet, 8 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: Hemet 8 km, intensity II · Valle Vista 9 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 86× the energy of this one
- 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 4.5 on 2018-05-08 — about 15,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 9 km N of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 41 km W of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 48 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.3 6km SSE of Hemet, CA · 3 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.3 18km ESE of Anza, CA · 48 km ESE 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 33.6792, -116.9523. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 75 km (46 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Orange County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | W | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Riverside County, CA | 88 km (55 mi) | E | earthquakes near Riverside County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 7 km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.1 14 km WNW of Anza, CA
- 1.9 7km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.9 14km SE of Anza, CA
- 2.3 14km SE of Anza, CA
- 1.6 13 km W of Anza, CA
- 1.6 13km W of Anza, CA
- 1.7 10km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.0 10km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.5 6 km E of Calimesa, CA
- 1.5 10km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.6 10km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.1 10km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.4 10km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.8 19km SW of La Quinta, 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.