QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Winchester, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Winchester in the 24 hours to 5:57 am PST (13:57 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 16 km (10 mi) NE, at 8:30 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 87 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Winchester

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) southeast of Winchester, CA, at 9:06 pm PST on 24 January 2020 (05:06 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 8km SE of Winchester, CA

9 km (5 mi) SSW of Hemet, CA · 135 km (84 mi) ESE of Los Angeles, CA

9:06 pm PST, Jan 24, 2020 · · 11 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Winchester Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 70 kmSan Diego County 74 kmRiverside County 94 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
9:06 pm PST on 24 January 2020 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) southeast of Winchester, CA · earthquakes near Winchester
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 70 km W
Nearest mapped fault
San Jacinto fault, 13 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 2481 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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Winchester, 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Green Acres, Hemet, East Hemet, Homeland, Menifee, San Jacinto.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 24,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 12 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 36 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 6km SSE of Hemet, CA · 9 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 8km ENE of Trabuco Canyon, CA · 46 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 12km WSW of Morongo Valley, CA · 48 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 33.6588, -117.0165. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 70 km (44 mi) W earthquakes near Orange County
San Diego County, CA 74 km (46 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Diego County
Riverside County, CA 94 km (59 mi) E earthquakes near Riverside County
Los Angeles County, CA 130 km (80 mi) WNW earthquakes near Los Angeles 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.

  1. 1.5 13km WNW of Anza, CA
  2. 1.6 10km NNW of Anza, CA
  3. 1.6 10km NNW of Anza, CA
  4. 1.6 7km S of Redlands, CA
  5. 1.9 10 km NNW of Banning, CA
  6. 2.5 16km SE of Anza, CA
  7. 1.6 8km SE of Valle Vista, CA
  8. 2.1 13 km WNW of Anza, CA
  9. 1.6 4 km SE of Home Gardens, CA
  10. 2.2 13km NE of Yucaipa, CA
  11. 2.1 7km E of Cabazon, CA
  12. 1.8 16km ESE of Anza, CA
  13. 1.9 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
  14. 2.2 4km NW of Lakeland Village, CA
  15. 1.5 4km NW of Lakeland Village, 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.